Dilip Ghosh heckled by mob in Kolkata, blames Trinamool for 'attack'
Kolkata: West Bengal BJP chief and Medinipur MP Dilip Ghosh was on Friday heckled by a mob in Kolkata's Lake Town area.
While the BJP has alleged that TMC workers were behind the attack, the state's ruling party has said local residents protested against Ghosh as they did not want any disturbance in the area.
Ghosh had reached Lake Town on Friday to attend a "Chai Pe Charcha" meet — an apparent attempt by the BJP to counter the TMC's public outreach initiative Didi Ke Bolo. According to sources, as soon as Ghosh reached there, a group of people surrounded his car and started raising slogans. What followed was a scuffle between supporters of the TMC and BJP, which left two BJP supporters injured.
After receiving information about the incident, police reached the spot and brought the situation under control.
"Our workers were attacked. They were TMC goons. These things never affect me as I am always prepared for such situations. It just shows how insecure they are," said Ghosh.
"The Trinamool is giving me publicity wherever I go. My party workers in the area invited me to tea. On reaching there, I saw that the TMC had put up many party flags. And then they started abusing me," he added.
BJP's youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha has condemned the incident and urged all district leaders to organise protests.
Lake Town is a stronghold of TMC leader and state Fire Services Minister Sujit Ghosh.
Speaking about the incident, Bose said, "He (Ghosh) chose a wrong place to have his morning tea. Here people are TMC supporters and will always support us for all the development work we have done. Local residents became agitated and raised 'go back' slogans because they don't want any disturbance here."
In a separate incident, Bongaon BJP MLA Biswajit Das was injured after a mob threw stones at his car at Gopalnagar in Bongaon on Friday. Das, who had recently left the TMC and joined BJP, was on his way to Kolkata to attend the Assembly session when the attack took place. He was subsequently shifted to a local hospital. It is alleged that Das was beaten up with bamboo sticks.
According to sources, a mob armed with iron rods and sticks intercepted Das's car five minutes away from his home. Alleging that TMC members were behind the attack, Das said, "There have been a number of attacks on me since I switched over to the BJP. I have information that local TMC leaders are planning to kill me."
The TMC denied the charges. "He was attacked by a local civic volunteer who was recently expelled from his job. Das had taken money from him for the job and he wanted his money back. Our party is not involved," said state Food Minister and in-charge of North 24 Parganas district Jyotipriya Mallick. Das has denied the allegations.
(With inputs from Indian Express)
