Bengal BJP leader’s ‘hidden’ threat to TMC cadre sparks row

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Bengal chief Dillip Ghosh triggered a controversy after he said his party workers “trained by the RSS, can break the neck of people with bare hands”. The threat was directed at the Trinamool Congress (TMC). 

“We can also fight. Half our people are trained by the RSS and breaking the necks of two-three people with our bare hands is no big deal for us. If you have the guts, give the police a week’s holiday. The noise of bones being crushed will reach Kalighat (which houses a burning ghat),” said Ghosh, while addressing a rally in Midnapore.

“TMC cadre are intimidating our workers. They have attacked several BJP leaders. To stop them we have to be strong enough. If someone attacks us we won’t be silent,” he told Millennium Post.

 The 52-year-old BJP leader added: “The security of my workers is my responsibility.”

BJP’s national spokesperson Siddharth Nath Singh, who was the in-charge of West Bengal Assembly polls, condemned Ghosh’s comment on Sunday. “People know what kind of politics and gunda raj is going on in Bengal. We have to save our party members. If somebody has problem with it, we cannot help it out,” Ghosh said, Singh condemned his comments.

“I have to live here and protect my existence. We have to decide on action required here and the party in charge of state will decide what’s right,” he said.

Ghosh is one of three BJP MLAs elected in the recently concluded Assembly elections, which marked the Mamata Baenrjee-led TMC’s victory for the second consecutive term. Meanwhile, the TMC has accused the Centre and the Election Commission of India of being biased towards them.