Kolkata: The West Bengal unit of the BJP last week organised demonstrations across the state to protest against “political violence and murder of democracy”, and exhorted people to defeat the “jungle raj” of the TMC in the next assembly elections.
Senior BJP leaders, including state president Dilip Ghosh, national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, and Mukul Roy, took part in a sit-in on Mayo Road, as part of the party’s ‘Ganatantra Bachao, Bangla Bachao' (Save democracy, Save Bengal) campaign.
“No one is safe in Bengal, be it the activists of an opposition party or the common man. The people of the state are fed up with the misrule of the TMC and are yearning for a change. The corrupt and the undemocratic TMC government would be ousted from power in the next elections,” Ghosh said while addressing the demonstration. Asserting that it was time to free Bengal of TMC’s “jungle raj”, Ghosh said law and order have completely collapsed in the state and the police officers have “turned into activists of the ruling party”.
“Over the last five years, political violence in Bengal has crossed all limits. Goons of the TMC have even attacked MLAs, leaders and activists of opposition political parties. Democracy cannot be stifled in this manner. “The TMC is well aware that it will be defeated in the next elections. The party has been crying foul over the use of EVMs, since Lok sabha polls. Let me make this clear, be it EVMs or ballots, we will defeat the party in assembly polls as well as civic polls,” Ghosh said.
Vijayvargiya, the saffron party’s Bengal minder, lashed out at state government over the killings and attacks on BJP workers across the state. “Hundreds of BJP workers have been killed, and around 2,000 party workers falsely implicated and put behind bars. Time has come to take Bengal on the path of growth and development,” he said. Similar protests were organised by the party in every block of the state.
In Cooch Behar and Birbhum districts, however, sporadic clashes were reported between the activists of the TMC and the BJP during the campaign. Several activists of both the parties reportedly sustained injuries in the clashes. Police have rushed to the troubled areas to take control of the situation. Assembly elections are due in West Bengal in April-May next year.
