‘TMC workers’ heckle Rupa, attack convoy

BJP leader Rupa Ganguly was allegedly heckled and her convoy was attacked by Trinamul Congress workers in South 24 Parganas district’s Kakdwip.

The incident took place when the BJP leader, along with other members of the party’s women wing, was returning from Ishwaripur village after visiting a party worker, who was assaulted allegedly by TMC workers on Saturday and was admitted to a local hospital. “Today, I had gone to visit a woman in Kakdwip who was molested and attacked by TMC goons yesterday. When we were returning after visiting her in a local hospital, the victim’s family members, who were travelling with us, recognised one youth who had molested her. We tried to catch him but some other TMC workers launched an attack on us and severely assaulted the women BJP workers,” Ms Ganguly said, who was being treated at a hospital in Diamond Harbour. She has sustained head injuries. Four other women workers, too, were injured. The TMC, however, denied such allegation and claimed the woman was injured due to a family dispute. “I have information that she was beaten up because of a family dispute. It was an apolitical incident and no TMC worker was involved,” said local TMC MLA Monturam Pakhira.

To condemn the incident, the BJP would take out a protest march from Hazra crossing to chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s house.

“If such attacks against our workers continue, then we will be forced to observe a black day on January 27 when Ms Banerjee will take oath as chief minister of Bengal. We are in power at Centre and we might also ask our central leaders to boycott the oath taking ceremony,” said state BJP president Dilip Ghosh. However, the police claimed that Ms Ganguly was not injured and she was released from the hospital after a check-up. “We have not arrested anybody in connection with the incident, but a police posting has been arranged in the locality,” a senior police officer said.