Trinamool Congress (TMC) National general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday afternoon was allegedly manhandled by dozens of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers, including women, at Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas.
Men allegedly pushed the TMC MP and hitting him even as security personnel tried to shield him. Women allegedly hurled eggs and sandals and threatened him.
Shouts of “chor chor" (thief, thief) were heard as Banerjee walked down the road wearing a helmet, with his shirt torn. People allegedly hurled abuses at him and the former chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
“These are all hooligans backed by the BJP,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee had gone to Sonarpur to meet the family members of a TMC worker Sanju Karmakar, who was allegedly killed in post-poll clashes.
“They want to kill me. Let them kill me. Let my dead body be recovered from here. But I won’t quit and abandon Karmakar’s parents. Ask the police to send in reinforcements...I would draw Calcutta high court and the governor's attention on the absence of police personnel. I would move the high court,” he said.
“When the junior doctor was raped at RG Kar Hospital, TMC leaders never went to meet her parents. TMC shielded the accused persons...We will not leave him,” said a woman at scene.
“He is a sand mafia and a coal smuggler. We will thrash him. We will kill him. He has to answer why women were raped in West Bengal,” said another woman.
Earlier in the day Banerjee went to meet the family members of another TMC worker Biswajit Pattanayak, who was also killed allegedly in post poll clashes in Kolkata’s Beleghata area.
“I have heard the BJP workers are trying to create some trouble in Sonarpur when I go there,” he said earlier in the day.
“Had the TMC come to power this time, by now at least 500 BJP workers would have been killed. Had it been the CPIM or the Congress in power, the man (Banerjee) who gave statements...would have been lynched. We have seen the atrocities and violence unleashed by the TMC leaders in the past in South 24 Parganas. I would urge all political parties to maintain peace and shun violence. Every political party should respect the people’s mandate,” said Samik Bhattacharya, state BJP president.
