Friday, March 29, 2024

To be in a poll in Bengal: Violence, threats and fingers pointing at Trinamool





Violence and threats are returning to its homeland in Bengal-in-polls and reports suggest that Election Commission (EC) has asked Central Armed Forces to fire in self-defence if required. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has written two letters to the chief electoral officer (CEO) of West Bengal in protest against the Trinamool Congress workers on Monday. 

One letter was about the alleged murder of BJP worker Akhil Biswas while another pertained to open threat to BJP candidate Lokenath Chatterjee from Trinamool workers. 

Found hanging from tree

Akhil Biswas went missing on March 26, as per the letter, and was found dead two days later, hanging from a tree. 

“That tradition of West Bengal is going on equally, BJP workers are being killed and hanged and called suicide,” the letter said.

BJP candidate threatened

As per the BJP’s account, a Trinamool worker intimidated BJP candidate from Ballygunge constituency Lokenath Chatterjee at an event on March 27. The TMC worker allegedly said, “Aap ko dekhlenge [We’ll take care of you].”

According to the BJP, Chatterjee reported the incident to the police but no action was taken.

Further, the letter claimed that a mob of around 50 Trinamool workers physically assaulted BJP workers while they were campaigning from door-to-door with Chatterjee. A woman worker of the party was allegedly molested.

“The aforesaid conduct of the Trinamool Congress workers is in blatant violation of the Model Code of Conduct,” said the letter.

A nightmare revisited

A twitterati posted a video of a woman tied at her knees with rope and dragged over a country road in West Bengal by a group of men, led by a ruling Trinamool Congress panchayat leader. 

When her sister protests, she too is thrown to the ground and pulled by the arms and abused by the men, led by Amal Sarkar, as per NDTV. 

This pertains to an incident in February last year. 

The women’s protested at their land being grabbed by the Trinamool-run panchayat for constructing a road led to the horrifying incident.

The NDTV reported the matter thus: 

“The video of the incident, which was widely shared on social media, shows Smritikona Das in a maroon maxi being beaten, thrown to the ground. A man ties a rope around her knees and another group of people drag her by her arms over the earthen road.

“Her older sister Soma Das, who happened to be on the spot, shouts at the men. She too is shoved to the ground and dragged to where her sister is seen lying.

“According to the two women, both in their late 20s, they were initially told that the road being built in front of their house would be 12-feet wide. They agreed to give up land for that. But when the panchayat allegedly decided to widen the road to 24 feet – which would mean the loss of much more land – the women objected.

“The result: on Friday, at Fata Nagar village in the Gangarampur police station area of South Dinajpur district, around 400 km from Kolkata, when the women objected as bulldozers and road-rollers began work, they met this shocking treatment.”

The second phase of polling in the West Bengal assembly election will take place on April 1. 

The counting and results are on May 2. 

 


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