Pitched battles marked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in Siliguri, North Bengal, on Monday afternoon, when police fired tear gas projectiles and used water cannons to prevent workers and party leaders from approached Uttar Kanya, the secretary of state in North Bengal, in violation of prohibition orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The demonstration was part of the BJP’s ongoing agitation programs against the Trinamool Congressional (TMC) government.
Workers from BJP and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BYJM), who were leading two processions in opposite directions, indiscriminately threw stones at the police.
The clashes took place in at least four locations, including Tinbatti More and Phoolbari Bazar. Several women in the processions fell ill after inhaling the tear gas. BJYM National President and Bangalore South Lok Sabha member Tejasvi Surya and BJYM State President Saumitra Khan also fell ill.
“The violence was a public display of the violence that the BJP believes in. His workers provoked the police to open fire. I thank the police for handling the situation. The BJP will not create disturbances in the state, ”said Saugata Roy, member of TMC Lok Sabha and party spokesman.
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BJP State President Dilip Ghosh alleged that a party worker was killed.
“One of our workers, who was injured in charge of the truncheon, died at the hospital,” Ghosh said.
Neither the police nor local TMC leaders confirmed this until 3:15 p.m.
Prominent leaders such as BJP National Secretary General Kailash Vijayvargiya, National Secretary Arvind Menon and several members of the party’s Lok Sabha were in the long procession heading towards the secretariat.
BJYM workers demolished two steel and bamboo barricades that were erected by the police to stop the procession. Angry BJYM workers set fire to several bamboo barricades. Journalists covering the demonstration were caught in the middle when BJYM workers threw stones at the district police Rapid Action Force. The police resorted to the truncheon around 2.30 pm.
The violence was similar to that witnessed in and around Kolkata on October 8, when the Kolkata police registered up to 24 BJP leaders, including Vijayvargiya and Menon, for violating the central guidelines on political rallies and demonstrations during the pandemic and marching towards Nabanna. , the secretariat in the adjoining Howrah district.
BJYM organized the “Nabanna Chalo” (March to Nabanna) program to make its voice heard on issues ranging from the alleged lack of job opportunities in Bengal to public order problems. BJP and BJYM leaders claimed that around 1,500 workers were injured during the charging of the truncheon.
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