Nadda convoy stoned in Bengal, BJP leaders injured, Centre seeks report

New Delhi: Eight BJP workers were admitted to hospital and senior party leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy suffered minor injuries after the motorcade of the BJP national president J P Nadda was attacked with stones and sticks, allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters, outside Kolkata on Thursday afternoon.

Several cars in the convoy, which was headed to Diamond Harbour, the Lok Sabha constituency of Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, were damaged.

The vehicles of Vijayvargiya, BJP national general secretary; Roy, national vice president; Dilip Ghosh, state president; and Anupam Hazra, national secretary, had their windscreens smashed in the attack. Several BJP workers and security personnel suffered injuries.

Nadda, who was travelling in a bulletproof vehicle, was not hurt. Lawlessness and anarchy ruled in West Bengal, he said after the incident.

In the evening, the Centre sought a report on the attack from the West Bengal government, and a separate report from the Governor on the law and order situation in the state.

“The scenes I saw while coming here show that under Mamata Banerjee anarchy rules in Bengal. We were able to reach here because of the blessings of Ma Durga. It is a state of lawlessness. TMC workers left no stone unturned to try and throttle democracy. This is goonda raj,” Nadda told party workers in Diamond Harbour.

“I had a bulletproof car. But almost all other cars were damaged. Kailash Vijayvargiya has a fracture in his hand. Other leaders’ cars were smashed. Our 50 workers on motorbikes were beaten up and their vehicles snatched. Eight of them are in the hospital,” he said.

Asked at a press conference in the evening whether he believed it was time for President’s Rule in West Bengal, given that BJP leaders have made such demands earlier, Nadda said: “The incident was an example of anarchy, lawlessness, and intolerance. Administration has crumbled. It speaks volumes of the mentality of Mamata Banerjee. Will there be no political debate in Bengal? But we will end the rule of Mamata Banerjee in a democratic way.”

The Chief Minister herself described the incident as “small” and “planned”, and said the police would investigate. West Bengal Police said on its official Twitter handle that Nadda had reached his destination safely, and that “nothing happened” to his convoy.

The incident took place near Sirakol in South 24-Parganas district, about 30 km from Kolkata. TMC workers had gathered in groups to protest against the three farm laws. As Nadda’s convoy approached, men on both sides of the narrow road holding TMC flags threw stones at the vehicles, and rained sticks on them, eyewitnesses said. BJP workers who were riding alongside on motorcycles were roughed up.

“Trinamool workers with party flags and armed with lathis attacked our convoy at multiple places. Stones and bricks were thrown by TMC workers. A number of cars have been damaged. Police were standing like mute spectators,” Dilip Ghosh said.