Kolkata, February 18 – The BJP accused the Trinamool Congress of intimidating its party leader and threatening to kill him in Nanoor, West Bengal's Birbhum district, ahead of the state assembly elections.
According to local sources, the BJP leader was identified as Ramakrishna Mandal, a resident of Kurgram in the Thupasara area of Nanoor in Birbhum.
The BJP claimed that white "dhoti", incense sticks, garlands, and sweets were left in front of the party leader's house in an attempt to instill fear among his family members.
"Ramakrishna is the mandal president of the BJP. Like other days, on Tuesday night, he fell asleep after eating. When he woke up on Wednesday morning, a terrible scene unfolded in front of his house. He saw a white tarpaulin, flower garlands, sweets, and incense sticks placed in front of the house," locals said.
These items are generally used after the death of a person, the locals said.
The BJP quickly turned its attention to the Trinamool Congress for "using tactics to terrorize" its leaders and workers in the Nanoor area.
Mandal said, "The assembly elections are scheduled for this year. The Trinamool has realized that it is difficult for them to win this time. Therefore, they are trying to scare the BJP leaders and make them stay in the house. The Trinamool workers have deliberately done this to scare us. The family members are naturally terrified. I have filed a complaint with the local police."
However, the Trinamool Congress has denied these allegations. Instead, local Trinamool leaders have blamed it on "factionalism" within the BJP, which resulted in the incident.
A local Trinamool Congress leader said, "This is the result of infighting within the BJP in the area. Our party has nothing to do with it."
A senior officer of the Birbhum district police said that a complaint has been lodged against unknown persons in connection with the incident. "We are looking into the matter. The investigation is ongoing," said the police officer.