New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged that West Bengal police has not allowed a single Gujarati to stay in Barasat district of West Bengal even when the polls are six days away.
BJP state executive member and Chairman of IIM Shillong Shishir Bijoria has tweeted saying the following:
.@WBPolice officers have informed that no Gujaratis can stay in the district of Barasat & they have to leave immediately even though next phase of polls is 6 days away Their message is rather clear NO GUJARATIS @swapan55 @BJP4Bengal @BJP4India
— chowkidar shishir bajoria (@shishirkb) May 13, 2019
On Monday, BJP chief Amit Shah addressed a rally in Barasat, which is situated about 40 kilometres from Kolkata.
Hours after Shah’s address, a routine check of hotels was undertaken by the police on the insistence of Trinamool Congress candidate Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar as she suspected that BJP workers were staying in a local hotel with arms and cash ahead of the election on May 19. The workers were from Gujarat.
Though the workers left the hotel after arguments, Dastidar protested outside the local police station demanding action against the BJP workers.
The workers went to the house of Tuhin Mondal, a local BJP leader.
As the workers arrived in multiple vehicles, it escalated tensions after the local vandalised some of the vehicles forcing police to reach the spot to probe the matter.
The police made repeated requests to open the house but to no avail. Eventually police forced its way into the house by breaking the door.
After the lights were switched on, BJP workers including a local leader Pradeep Banerjee were found to be inside the house.
NDTV reported Banerjee to have said that they were about to start party meeting. He confirmed that meeting was attended by co-incharge of Bengal Arvind Menon.
The Trinamool Congress workers protested outside the house and the police escorted the BJP workers to the police station. BJP leader Mukul Roy reached the police station around 1:30 a.m.
Roy alleged that it was Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee who travelled with cash in cars that follow her.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, "There is no place for political violence in a healthy democracy, it's unfortunate that more and more incidences of violence are taking place in West Bengal. What can be more unfortunate, that the chief minister is unable to stop violence in the state?"
Nine constituencies Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Mathurapur, Jaynagar, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolakata Dakshin and Kolata Uttar, in West Bengal will vote on May 19.
