Trinamool Congress party workers stopped former party MP Sunil Mondal’s car in front of the BJP state headquarters in central Kolkata and staged a protest on Saturday morning, prompting a further escalation of tensions between the two parties before the elections to the Assembly in the state.
Following the incident, the BJP National Secretary General and West Bengal Officer Kailash Vijayvargiya informed the Union Interior Minister Amit Shah about the incident.
“Today TMC workers attacked the car of Sunil Mondal, who is a deputy. I informed the Union Interior Minister about it, ”Vijayvargiya said, while addressing a meeting at the BJP office.
Top TMC leaders said it was a spontaneous protest by party workers against Mondal as he had not resigned as a deputy. Mondal had resigned from TMC before joining the BJP on December 19.
“Have you seen any protests of this type by Mukul Roy or Suvendu Adhikari, who also defected to the BJP? They had both resigned and later joined the BJP. Mondal, however, has not yet resigned from his post as deputy. It was a spontaneous protest, “said Kalyan Banerjee, TMC MP.
On Saturday, the BJP held a congratulatory event for the newly incorporated leaders, including the former TMC MP and State Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Mondal and other leaders, who recently switched sides, also attended.
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A stone’s throw away, local TMC leaders also set up a stage and organized a rally. BJP Vice President of State Pratap Banerjee wrote to the Kolkata Police Commissioner saying that the TMC event was a provocation and that the stage was built with the permission of the police.
When Mondal’s car arrived at the BJP office, TMC workers stopped it and held a protest. Some even lied on the road and showed him black flags. Later, Mondal and BJP security workers escorted him to the BJP office.
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