Chaos ensued on the last day of campaigning for the Bhabanipur Assembly bye-election when BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh was allegedly heckled and manhandled by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) cadres. The incident took place on Monday when Ghosh went inside a vaccination camp at the Jagubabur Bazar area of the constituency.
A large number of TMC cadres gathered outside and demanded that Ghosh must leave immediately. They alleged that he was campaigning inside a state-run vaccination centre.
A TMC cadre allegedly got into a scuffle with one of the BJP leader’s security personnel who pulled out his pistol to scare away the crowd. Ghosh was whisked away by his security guards from the area. A BJP worker sustained head injury during the incident.
Speaking to reporters, Ghosh alleged that he was attacked by the TMC cadres and his security guard had no option but to pull out his service pistol to keep them at bay.
“We apprehended that the TMC could resort to such an attack and informed the police in advance. But the police did not do anything. Sensing defeat, the TMC is resorting to such violent tactics. We have repeatedly informed the Election Commission (EC) about this but it did not arrange any security,” said Ghosh.
Accusing the EC of being biased, the former State BJP president demanded that the Bhabanipur bye-election be put on hold.
“How can election be held if we cannot speak to voters? How will common people reach the polling booths? Voters who support the BJP are being threatened. The EC is acting in a biased manner to keep Mamata Banerjee the chief minister. We demand that the bypoll be put on hold,” said Ghosh.
Earlier in the day, TMC cadres raised “go back” slogan and dubbed BJP MP Arjun Sign as an “outsider” when he went to campaign for party candidate Priyanka Tibrewal in the constituency.
Denying the allegation, the TMC tweeted “@BJP4Bengal HITS A NEW LOW! How DARE a gun be aimed at the public in broad daylight? Do people not have the right to protest against leaders they do not support? Such blatant violation of human rights is shameful! This compromises the safety and security of people in Bhabanipur!
EC has sought a report from the State Government regarding the incident.
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