Kolkata, March 14 Clashes broke out between TMC and BJP supporters in central Kolkata on Saturday, barely half an hour before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally at the Brigade Parade Ground here, leaving a police officer and a leader of the saffron party injured, officials said.
Allegations also surfaced that stones were thrown at the residence of West Bengal minister Shashi Panja in the Girish Park area.
The violence took place around 5 km from the rally venue as BJP supporters were marching to attend the prime minister's meeting, which marked the culmination of the party's statewide 'Parivartan Yatra' ahead of the assembly elections.
Panja, flanked by her cabinet colleague Bratya Basu and MP Saayoni Ghosh, said at a press meet later in the day that she was hit on the abdomen by bricks hurled by the attackers from outside, and several supporters of her party, including her office staff, were injured.
Panja claimed that the attackers "wanted to kill me".
"Is this BJP's narrative about 'Parivartan' (change) to mount an attack on a woman minister and the residence of veteran politician late Ajit Panja!" she said.
Basu said, "This is the first time in Independent India that a minister's residence was attacked by a mob in such a way."
According to eyewitnesses, supporters of both parties allegedly threw stones at each other and raised slogans, triggering tension in the busy locality.
Bowbazar Police Station officer-in-charge Bappaditya Naskar was injured while trying to control the situation, police sources said.
The BJP also claimed that its north Kolkata district president, Tamaghno Ghosh, and several party workers were injured in the clashes.
Ghosh was later taken to a hospital for treatment, party leaders said.
BJP leaders alleged that their supporters were attacked without provocation while heading towards the rally venue.
"Stones were thrown at us without any provocation. Abuses were also hurled at us," a BJP activist told a Bengali news channel.
The party further alleged that several vehicles, including buses carrying supporters to the rally, were damaged in the clashes.
Panja, however, claimed, "The BJP had deliberately carried on the attack, and some of its leaders who led from the front or instigated had got themselves admitted to hospitals to mislead people."
She alleged that it was pre-planned and those travelling in buses to the rally venue were carrying bricks, glass bottles and bombs.
"They tore flexes, carrying the slogan 'no vote to BJP', put up before my house, and when our supporters again tried to put up flexes, the hooligans attacked my house on the main road near Girish Park," the minister claimed.
Without directly referring to the incident, Modi alleged that attempts were made to stop BJP supporters from attending the party's rally at the Brigade Parade Ground "by blocking bridges and detaining workers".
Addressing the gathering, the PM claimed that BJP workers faced "harassment from all sides" in an attempt to prevent them from reaching the rally venue.
Rejecting the TMC allegations, Union minister Sukanta Majumdar claimed that bricks and stones were hurled at several buses carrying BJP workers, and that some party activists were also beaten up at the behest of Panja.
Majumdar, who met some of the injured BJP workers at a hospital, said, "It clearly shows how panicked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the leadership of the Trinamool Congress have become after witnessing the massive turnout at the BJP's rally at the Brigade Parade Ground."
He claimed that the party had already identified some of the perpetrators and would give "an appropriate response to every attack on its workers".
BJP councillor in Kolkata Municipal Corporation and party spokesperson Sajal Ghosh said, "The police initially remained inactive when TMC activists carried on an attack on BJP supporters heading to the Brigade rally, and the situation escalated."
"It was an unprovoked assault on our men going to the rally. The TMC wanted to disrupt the programme and intimidate our workers. Our men had to self-defend," Ghosh said.
The Kolkata Police later sent a large contingent to the spot and brought the situation under control, dispersing the mob.
As tension mounted in the locality, many shopkeepers hurriedly lowered shutters of their outlets for a brief period.