Trinamool, BJP on the warpath

 If Tuesday’s offensive by Trinamool Congress workers on the BJP office in Kolkata was a glimpse of what is to come, the retaliation by BJP supporters made it clear that the two parties are on the warpath.

As friends turned foes, things could only get more intense, with Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee leaving no chance in firing a salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

With the BJP fast taking over the vacuum left behind by the CPM in West Bengal, the party seems to have become enemy number 1 for Mamata. Even though BJP leaders seemed to maintain restraint on Tuesday evening after a clash with Trinamool supporters left at least a dozen party workers injured outside the state office, on Wednesday, things had changed.

“We may not be as strong as Trinamool in Bengal but elsewhere in India we are the strongest force. Will Trinamool MPs be able to enter Delhi, if BJP workers there decide not to allow them? If BJP workers decide to protest across the country, will Mamata Banerjee be able to roam the country freely? If Trinamool does not mend its ways, we’ll also not sit silently,” BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said. Even state BJP president Dilip Ghosh and national secretary Rahul Sinha seemed ready for a fight.

Reacting after Tuesday’s clash, Ghosh said, “Trinamool is indulging in politics of destruction. It is clear to see who is playing politics of vendetta.” Although neither Ghosh nor Sinha used words as strong as Vijayavargiya, they made their intentions clear.

Threatening a statewide agitation against the Trinamool, Sinha said, “We did not retaliate when they attacked because we wanted to show how the ruling party has been terrorising the opposition party.”

Sources within the BJP said that what Sinha left unsaid was Tuesday’s offensive might have been a surprise move, next time they would be prepared and an attack would not end with just BJP workers getting injured. Not going into details of “preparations”, BJP insiders said that they have started gearing up. Over the next few days, however, they would follow a path of agitations and demonstrations. 

“We want this to set in that soon after Mamata finished speaking, Trinamool workers attacked us. But another provocation will not be taken lightly,” a leader said.