Candidate attacked: BJP; Not involved, says TMC

THE POLICE SAY THEY HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED ANY COMPLAINT FROM THE BJP ON THE ALLEGED ATTACK, BUT THE PARTY HAS MOVED EC

KOLKATA: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said that its candidate for West Bengal’s Diamond Harbour seat, Dipak Halder, and 10 others were thrashed during campaigning in the South 24 Parganas district.

While the party blamed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the attack, the ruling party dismissed the incident as a factional fight.

The BJP said it lodged a complaint in this regard with the state’s Chief Electoral Officer. The police, however, said they have not yet received any complaint from the BJP on the alleged attack. “We have not received any complaint from the BJP till 8pm on Friday. Instead, a few villagers have lodged a complaint against Halder over some remarks he made during the campaign. The complaint is under scrutiny,” said a senior police officer, adding that Halder went to the village without any permission.

Confirming the BJP’s complaint, a senior official of the state poll panel said: “We have already asked for a report on the incident from the district authorities.”

Halder was earlier with the TMC and won the Diamond Harbour assembly seat in 2011 and 2016. He joined the BJP this February.

Following the attack, BJP workers blocked an arterial road in protest, following which the police intervened and a scuffle broke out between them and Halder’s supporters. “Some persons attacked the inspector in charge of Diamond Harbour police station when he went to disperse the crowd. He sustained injuries and had to be hospitalised. Police have initiated a suo motu case in this regard. One person has been arrested and two have been detained,” said the police officer.

“The attack was carried out by TMC workers. Our leaders, workers and supporters have always come under attack from the TMC and this has increased after the first and second phase polls as TMC knows that defeat is imminent,” said Samik Bhattacharya, state BJP spokesperson.

Dismissing the allegation, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “The TMC is in no way associated with this. It could be a fight between BJP’s old timers and newcomers. We are collecting information.”

The next phase of polls in the state is on April 6.