Four supporters of BJP & TMC killed in Howrah, Birbhum amid post-poll violence in West Bengal

Kolkata: At least four supporters of the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party were killed as the assembly election results, indicating an imminent regime change in West Bengal, were followed by reports of incidents of violence from across the state.

The BJP alleged two workers of the party were killed by the TMC goons in New Town in Kolkata and in Udaynarayanpur in Howrah. The TMC, on the other hand, alleged that its two workers were killed at Nanur in Birbhum and Beleghata in Kolkata.

The TMC was routed by the BJP in the elections.

The state had seen such political clashes after the 2021 assembly elections, too, after the TMC beat the BJP.

Several TMC offices across the state, including Baruipur, Kamarhati, Baranagar, Tollygunge, Kasba, and Panihati, were either vandalised, or set on fire, or taken over, allegedly by the BJP workers. Similar reports came in from other places in the state, too.

A video was circulated online, showing a bulldozer being brought in during a victory procession by the BJP workers, allegedly to demolish a TMC office and nearby meat shops.

“In central Kolkata, near New Market. With police permission. As part of the victory celebrations, a bulldozer was brought in to demolish meat shops. (The personnel of the) CAPF (Central Armed Police Force) standing around. THE BJP FOR YOU. Let the world see these pictures,” Derek O’Brien wrote on X, reposting the video.

Mamata Banerjee, outgoing chief minister and the TMC supremo, condemned “atrocities” on her party workers. She constituted a fact-finding committee to visit the areas where the party workers and supporters came under attack.

Samik Bhattacharya, the state BJP president, urged the state administration to act firmly against perpetrators of post-poll violence irrespective of political affiliation. He said that strict action must be taken against the people responsible for violence. “If anyone from our party is found involved in violence after the polls, we will be compelled to expel them,” he said.

Abir Sheikh, a local leader of the TMC at Nanoor in Birbhum, was hacked to death. “Horrifying. Chilling. @AITCofficial worker killed in widespread violence,” Sagarika Ghose, a TMC member of the Rajya Sabha, wrote on X, posting a video purportedly showing Sheikh lying dead in a pool of blood.

Another TMC worker, Bishwajit Pattnaik, was found dead in mysterious circumstances in Beleghata in Kolkata. The TMC alleged that he had been murdered by the BJP goons. Police, however, said that he had died while trying to flee through the terrace when “some people” had come looking for him.

BJP worker Madhu Mandal was allegedly killed by the TMC workers during a victory rally in the Rajarhat-New Town area in Kolkata.

Jadhav Bor, another BJP worker, was beaten to death in Udaynarayanpur in Howrah. The BJP alleged that he was killed by the TMC goons. Police, however, said that personal enmity had led to the murder.