'BJP murdering democracy': Mamata alleges after Kalyan Banerjee injured in attack

Kolkata: TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee was injured in an attack, allegedly by the workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in Hooghly in West Bengal on Sunday, a day after a similar assault on the party’s general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, in the state’s South 24 Parganas district.

Kalyan suffered an injury on his head as he came under attack near a police station in Chanditala in Hooghly. He was on his way to the police station to submit a memorandum to protest against the arrest of some TMC workers in the area by the cops after the recent assembly elections.

“The BJP is murdering democracy,” TMC supremo, Mamata Banerjee, posted on X, as she visited the residence of Kalyan and enquired about his injuries and medical care provided to the Lok Sabha member after the assault.

“Rulers became killers,” she had posted on the social media platform, after the assault on Abhishek at Sonarpur in the South 24 Parganas district on Saturday.

The TMC, which lost power to the BJP a few weeks back, decided to launch an agitation on Monday to protest the assault on Abhishek and Kalyan.

Mamata, herself, will launch a sit-in demonstration on Tuesday to protest, not only the attacks on the TMC leaders and supporters allegedly by the BJP workers, as well as police action against them, but also the demolition of makeshift shops of the vendors, including the ones on the railway stations, across the state, the party’s senior leader and legislator, Kunal Ghosh said.

The TMC, which ruled the state for 15 years, however, continued to face problems within. Only about 20 of the party’s 80 legislators attended a meeting called by Mamata at her residence in Kolkata on Sunday.

Kunal, however, said that many of the legislators could not turn up for the meeting as they were busy standing by the TMC supporters, who were being at the receiving end of the violent attacks by “the BJP goons” as well as the police actions on “fake cases”, and they had informed the leadership about their inability to travel to Kolkata for the meeting on Sunday.

“They targeted Abhishek Banerjee yesterday, and me today. The BJP wants to intimidate us and to silence our voices of protest. But our fight against the BJP government's culture of political intimidation, misuse of state machinery, and the steady erosion of democratic values will continue, come what may,” Kalyan told journalists, alleging that the “BJP miscreants” had attacked him and hit him on his head in front of the cops near the Chanditala Police Station in Hooghly.

The BJP, however, denied any involvement by any of its workers in the attacks on Abhishek and Kalyan on Saturday and Sunday. Agnimitra Paul, a minister of the state’s new BJP government, said that the attacks on TMC members of the Lok Sabha were manifestations of the public anger against the corrupt regime of the party led by Mamata and Abhishek.

The police arrested five people in connection with the attacks on Abhishek on Saturday. Paul alleged that the arrested people were all workers of the TMC’s former legislator from Sonarpur, Arundhati Maitra, who had lost to the BJP’s Roopa Ganguly in the just-concluded assembly elections.

The TMC, however, dismissed the allegation that the goons, who had carried out the attack, had any links with it.

“We stand united and resolute in our fight to protect the soul of India, defend its democratic institutions and uphold the values enshrined in our Constitution,” Abhishek posted on X, thanking Congress heavyweight and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, for condemning the attack on him.

The TMC general secretary noted that he had travelled across five countries representing India as part of the all-party delegation after India had carried out Operation Sindoor against Pakistan after the April 22, 2025, terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

“I defended my country and stood united against terrorism. Today, I stand as a victim of political violence and state-sponsored terrorism unleashed by those who claim to be the guardians of nationalism.”

“This is the reality of today’s BJP. If you support them, you are a patriot. If you question them, you become a target. If you stand with them, you are celebrated. If you stand against them, they try to silence you,” added Abhishek.

He also thanked other leaders of the opposition parties for condemning the assault on him.