'Must Be On High Alert': Mamata Banerjee Pulls Up TMC Leaders Over Murshidabad Riots, Stresses Poll Preparedness

Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with TMC functionaries in Murshidabad, expressing displeasure over recent riots. She termed it "orchestrated violence".

File Photo of West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee

Source : PTI

Murshidabad (WB), May 5 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday held a meeting with party functionaries of the riot-hit Murshidabad district, stressing the need to maintain peace, communal harmony, and preserve the district's rich cultural heritage.

Banerjee expressed strong displeasure over recent incidents of unrest in the Muslim-majority district, which she termed "orchestrated violence," and directed party leaders to ensure such disturbances are not repeated in the future.

"How could such disturbances be provoked in Murshidabad, which has always been a stronghold of the Trinamool Congress?" she is learnt to have asked during the meeting.

Visiting the riot-hit Murshidabad district for the first time since communal clashes broke out last month, Banerjee alleged that the BJP was shielding those responsible for the violence and preventing the affected families from meeting her.

The chief minister arrived in Berhampore on Monday afternoon by helicopter from Kolkata and headed straight to the district administrative building from the Circuit House.

At the administrative headquarters, Banerjee chaired a 35-minute meeting with local MLAs, municipal chairpersons, the MP of Murshidabad Lok Sabha constituency Abu Taher Khan, the Chairperson of Murshidabad Zilla Parishad, members of the Zilla parsihad and senior party functionaries from both the district.

"The CM was very concerned about the way tension was created in parts of the district. She made it clear that the elected representatives must be on high alert. She also told us to prepare well in advance for the 2026 Assembly polls," a senior district TMC leader told PTI.

Banerjee also directed the district leadership to form a 10-member committee to monitor organisational affairs and oversee the overall situation in Murshidabad, sources said.

Bharatpur MLA Humayun Kabir, who attended the meeting, said, "The chief minister remarked that the kind of dirty politics BJP is engaging in within Murshidabad is unacceptable. Some people have instigated unrest here." Another legislator who was present at the meeting, however, said that Banerjee specifically advised Kabir to refrain from speaking to the media, given his recent controversial statements.

A senior TMC leader added that the CM was visibly upset about what she termed as "false propaganda" following the recent violence in Suti and Samsherganj.

She reportedly instructed the elected representatives to remain vigilant, urging them to identify past mistakes and stay alert.

"She was clear that any attempt to disturb peace must be dealt with strictly, irrespective of political affiliation," the leader said. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)