TMC, BJP supporters 'clash' near Kolkata; makeshift public meeting stage set afire

Kolkata: Supporters of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition BJP reportedly clashed on Sunday evening at Sakherbazar on the southwestern outskirts of Kolkata over the use of microphones by a local club allegedly in high volume.

A makeshift stage, where former Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb addressed a public meeting in the afternoon, was also allegely set on fire during the clash.

One fire tender was pressed into service to bring the blaze under control, an official said.

TMC MLA from the Behala Purba constituency, Ratna Chatterjee, claimed that some BJP supporters accosted members of the club during a badminton tournament.

"The Trinamool Congress will make its stance harder, the more they resort to such tactics," she told reporters after visiting the club.

Local BJP leaders alleged that some goons set fire to the makeshift stage at Sakherbazar from where Deb addressed the rally earlier in the day, as part of the saffron brigade's ‘Parivartan Sankalp Yatra’ ahead of the Bengal assembly polls.