Kolkata, March 21 – Tension gripped Bhabanipur, the constituency of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Saturday over allegations that posters belonging to the Trinamool Congress had been torn down. The ruling party claimed that the BJP was responsible for the incident.
However, the BJP asserted that the incident stemmed from internal factionalism within the Trinamool Congress. Both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP have lodged separate complaints at the Kalighat Police Station in connection with the incident.
According to the police, Trinamool Congress posters had been put up across various areas of Bhabanipur in preparation for the Assembly elections.
However, on Saturday afternoon, allegations were leveled against the BJP for tearing down these posters in the vicinity of Chakraberia Road.
Following this, local Trinamool workers, led by Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Councillor Asim Basu, staged a protest demonstration in front of the Bhabanipur Police Station. Subsequently, they lodged a written complaint specifically naming several BJP workers.
Asim Basu said: "We had put up these banners and posters after obtaining all necessary permissions. Later, we discovered that someone – or a group of people – had torn them down. We immediately informed the police. The police arrived at the scene even before we did. When we eventually reached the spot, we found that not only had the ‘Boycott BJP’ posters been torn down, but they had also destroyed the hoardings and banners we had put up to ensure the Chief Minister’s victory."
Earlier in the day, the BJP had also raised a similar allegation, claiming that Trinamool supporters had torn down banners and posters featuring Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari. The Trinamool Congress has now lodged a counter-allegation.
Bhabanipur is a key constituency in the upcoming Assembly elections. The BJP has fielded Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari from Bhabanipur, in addition to Nandigram. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also scheduled to begin her campaign from Bhabanipur on Monday. It remains to be seen how the political contest unfolds in the constituency.