Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers staged a protest and called for ‘bandh’ in the Matigara area of Siliguri, West Bengal, on Monday after an alleged attack by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers.
According to the BJP workers, on Sunday, TMC workers attacked several BJP workers and party booth president Nand Kishore Thakur as well as his family. ANI quoted a BJP leader as saying that the alleged attack came after they chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’, adding that almost 15 party workers were injured and hospitalised.
Nand Kishore Thakur told ANI on Sunday, “After the voting concluded we went to our homes... Then, on Saturday, they came and started hurling abuse... threatening to finish off the entire Thakur family [for supporting the BJP]. We were not at home at the time. Later, we informed the village chief and former village chief [about the threats] but no action was taken. On Sunday morning, there was another episode involving abuse. We came to the police station to lodge an FIR, but it was not registered."
In the evening, he added, around 25-30 people came to his house and attacked him and his family. "They belonged to the TMC," he said.
Pramanik raised questions about the current condition of the state. “We called the bandh because of what is happening in north Bengal, this isn’t Kolkata. The voting was done peacefully and after voting as well, everything was peaceful."
“The bandh is being carried out in peace as well, we asked everyone nicely and they agreed with the bandh”, Pramanik added.