'Not democracy, sheer thuggery': TMC alleges post-poll violence in Murshidabad, Siliguri and other areas; BJP denies involvement

BJP Leader Rahul Sinha said it might be the handiwork of rival factions within the TMC

Kolkata: Incidents of arson and vandalism at offices of the Trinamool Congress were reported across West Bengal on Monday as BJP workers celebrated their landslide victory in the state.

Police said TMC offices in Kolkata's Tollygunge and Kasba, in Baruipur, Kamarhati, Baranagar in the suburbs, and in Howrah and Baharampur in the districts were vandalised by mobs since Monday afternoon.

An Election Commission official said strict action will be taken against those involved in the rampage and assault, and reports have been sought from the local police to initiate follow-up action.

BJP Leader Rahul Sinha, however, rejected the charge that any of his party's workers were involved in vandalism, saying it might be the handiwork of rival factions within the TMC, who were letting out their frustration at party leaders following the election results.

At the Bijoygarh-Netajjnagar area in Tollygunge, the election office of TMC candidate and former minister Aroop Biswas was seen vandalised by a mob. Some among the crowd were seen kicking the broken hoarding before leaving.

At Ruby Crossing, the office of TMC councillor Sushanta Ghosh was rampaged by a crowd holding BJP flags.

Condemning the incidents, TMC took to X to say, "The BJP has shown its true colours right after coming to power." "Their goons led a violent attack on our party office in Murshidabad. Vandalism and chaos -- this is the real face of the BJP. This marks the BJP's descent into gutter politics," it said.

Alleging that its candidate at Udaynarayanpur in Howrah was assaulted, the party said, "Brutal attack on our candidate Samir Panja was a testament to their violent mindset. This is not democracy; this is sheer thuggery." TMC candidate in north Kolkata's Maniktala, Shreya Pande, shared on social media a clip of a middle-aged party leader with his shirt soaked in blood and alleged that the man was her election agent who was beaten up by BJP workers after the counting of votes.

She lost to the BJP's Tapas Roy by a margin of 15,644 votes.

The TMC posted on social media a video purportedly showing its party office in Siliguri being set ablaze. PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.

In Panihati Assembly constituency, where the RG Kar Hospital rape-murder victim's mother, Ratna Debnath, trounced TMC's Tirthankar Ghosh by 28,836 votes, an office of the Mamata Banerjee-led party changed hands overnight.

TMC Noapara candidate Trinankur Bhattacharya and Barrackpore's Rajb Chakraborty were allegedly manhandled while they were leaving the counting centres and had to be escorted out by CAPF personnel.

BJP's Rahul Sinha condemned the violence, but said that it "cannot be matched with the 2021 situation when our office bearers were attacked by TMC immediately after the counting and several party offices were set on fire, with the state police not taking action".

"This time, however, police and central security forces were taking prompt action," he said.