SALBONI: West Bengal minister Birbaha Hansda’s automobile was vandalised in Paschim Medinipur district on Friday as members of the Kurmi neighborhood allegedly hurled stones at senior TMC chief Abhishek Banerjee’s convoy, wherein she was travelling, officers mentioned. The incident occurred in Salboni the place Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to attend a celebration programme on Saturday.
Abhishek, a Z-plus protectee, led a roadshow in Jhargram’s Binpur and Gopiballavpur as a part of his Trinamooley Nabojowar (new wave in Trinamool) marketing campaign. Following the rally, he was travelling by way of Salboni when members of the Kurmi neighborhood, who’re protesting demanding ST standing, gathered on each side of the highway, a celebration chief mentioned.
As his automobile moved forward, they allegedly began throwing stones on the convoy. “The vehicle of Hansda, which was in the convoy, was damaged in the attack,” the chief mentioned. An enormous police contingent was rushed to the spot to regulate the scenario, officers mentioned. It couldn’t be instantly recognized if anybody was arrested.
Banerjee alleged that the BJP was behind the assault. “I support democratic protests. If somebody wants to come to me and speak, they are always free to do so, but what form of protest is this that you are throwing stones, beating up people, and ransacking vehicles?” he mentioned. “I believe that some miscreants of BJP disguised as members of the Kurmi community are behind this attack to malign TMC’s campaign,” he alleged, addressing a celebration programme late within the evening in Gopiballavpur.
He demanded a press release from the leaders of the Kurmi neighborhood over the assault inside 48 hours. “I am giving a 48-hour ultimatum to the leaders of the Kurmi community. They should clarify whether they were behind this incident. If they don’t give a statement, it will prove that they were behind it, and then the law will take its course,” he mentioned.
Banerjee requested TMC employees to keep up peace and to not step into any type of provocation. “When I was in Bankura, the leaders of the Kurmi community came to meet me. I spoke to them and told them that I support their democratic demands. But what happened today is unacceptable. And what’s more surprising is the protestors were chanting Jai Shri Ram,” he mentioned.
Rejecting Banerjee’s allegations, the BJP mentioned on no account its members have been concerned within the violence. “The protests reflected people’s anger against the TMC,” BJP chief Rahul Sinha mentioned. Hansda, whose automobile was vandalised within the assault, mentioned violence can by no means be the type of a democratic protest.
“This can never be a fight for the rights of a community. All those who have thrown stones are outsiders, and are using the garb of being members of a specific community to justify the violence,” mentioned Hansda, the MoS for Forests. Last week, BJP nationwide vice-president Dilip Ghosh’s home in Paschim Medinipur’s Kharagpur was vandalised allegedly by members of a Kurmi outfit over his feedback towards the neighborhood.
“The TMC has been fanning this movement. When my house was attacked they had cherished it, now they are at the receiving end,” Ghosh mentioned. The Kurmi neighborhood, which is classed as OBC in West Bengal at current, protested for days in April in several districts of the state, together with Dakshin Dinajpur, Purulia, Jhargram and Paschim Medinipur, disrupting site visitors on highways and railways.
CPI(M) chief Sujan Chakraborty mentioned the TMC management ought to do some soul-searching as to why such protests are going down within the state. He claimed that persons are offended with the state authorities over varied points.
