Congress, BJP workers clash over CAB in Kolkata

The Congress and the BJP's workers came to blows on Thursday afternoon in Kolkata over the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Both sides pelted stones at each other and it took a large police contingent to prevent the incident from escalating further.

The incident took place when a protest march of the Congress workers against the spread of dengue and the rising number of deaths due to it in the city. The Congress procession was passing by the state BJP headquarters in Central Kolkata. At that time, BJP workers were celebrating the passage of CAB in the Parliament.

Tension started brewing when both sides started hurling abuses at each other. Soon, the verbal exchange turned into violence.

A large police contingent rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. A handful of workers from both sides sustained injuries during the confrontation.

The development comes at a time when the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) as well the opposition parties such as CPI(M) and Congress are up in arms against the CAB and vowed to stop implementation of the Bill and NRC in the state.

However, the state BJP leadership argued that since CAB has been passed in the Parliament, Banerjee will not be able to stop its implementation in Bengal.