BJP, Congress workers clash in Kolkata amid protests over Ambedkar issue

Kolkata: Members of the BJP's youth wing and Congress supporters clashed in Kolkata on Thursday during a protest over an alleged physical altercation between MPs of the two parties in Parliament earlier in the day.

The two sides accused each other of attack in central Kolkata's Entally area.

The BJP alleged that Congress workers attacked their Yuva Morcha activists, who were staging a peaceful protest outside the Congress state office against Rahul Gandhi’s alleged physical assault on BJP MPs in Parliament.

The BJP alleged that Congress workers pelted the protesters with stones, glass bottles, and bricks.

“Shocking scenes from Kolkata! Congress workers resorted to violence by pelting stones, throwing glass bottles, and hurling bricks at BJP Yuva Morcha workers, who were peacefully protesting against Rahul Gandhi’s physical attack on BJP MPs in the Indian Parliament,” BJP leader and co-in-charge of Bengal Amit Malviya posted on X.

“Ironically, this was done while holding a portrait of B R Ambedkar Ji, the architect of the Constitution, that safeguards the fundamental right of every Indian to protest peacefully. Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee’s police stood by as silent spectators, allowing this chaos and lawlessness by Congress hooligans to unfold in the heart of Kolkata,” he said, sharing a clip of the incident.

Senior Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya dismissed the BJP’s claims and accused the saffron party of instigating the violence.

“It was BJP workers who attacked Congress supporters standing near our party office. They are trying to shift the blame after creating the unrest,” he said.

Eyewitnesses reported a chaotic scene with both sides hurling objects at each other, while law enforcement struggled to maintain order.

Later, the police dispersed the crowd and controlled the situation.

The face-off between the opposition and ruling NDA over alleged insult to B R Ambedkar took an unprecedented ugly turn in Parliament premises on Thursday with claims of pushing and shoving involving MPs, leaving two BJP members hospitalised and a woman BJP MP accusing Rahul Gandhi of "misbehaving" with her.

The BJP charged the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha with pushing an MP leading to injuries to two of its lawmakers, but Gandhi denied it and said it was he who was pushed by a ruling party member while Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also accused protesting BJP members of shoving him and injuring his knees.

Both sides lodged complaints at Parliament Street police station.