BJP team defies prohibitory orders to visit violence-hit Asansol

Defying the state government's prohibitory orders, a BJP delegation on Sunday visited violence-hit Asansol to take stock of the situation there after last week's Ram Navami violence.

The four-member BJP delegation, led by national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain, visited Asansol amid tight security and was joined by local BJP leaders at relief camps.

After returning to Kolkata, Hussain blamed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government for "having failed" to control the situation in the Asansol-Raniganj belt of West Burdwan district and said, "it (the government) has played the role of a mute observer".

"We visited relief camps in Asansol and found that whatever had happened was wrong. It was a failure on the part of the state government," he told reporters.

Hussain said the delegation will on Monday submit a report to BJP chief Amit Shah on whatever they observed in Asansol.

The delegation had been formed by the BJP chief.

Besides Hussain, the delegation included BJP national vice-president and Rajya Sabha member Om Prakash Mathur, Palamu MP and former director general of Jharkhand police Vishnu Dayal Ram and Rajya Sabha member Roopa Ganguly.

"We want the administration to take strict action against the culprits responsible for the riots here," Mathur said.

On the way to the coal town of Asansol, the delegation was first stopped by the police at Basra More and then near Kalipahari as prohibitory orders were in force in the area.

The BJP leaders, however stuck to their plans and proceeded to Asansol.