Clashes broke out between TMC and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters in West Bengal
Reportedly clashes broke out between trinamool congress (TMC) and bharatiya janata party (BJP) supporters in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district on tuesday evening, moments after a public meeting addressed by Union MoS for home Nisith Paramanik got over and a rally led by state minister Udayan Guha was about to begin nearby. The incident happened in the Dinhata Bazar area around 8.30 pm. To control the situation, the police had to resort to lathi-charge. Several people, including a sub-divisional police officer, were reportedly injured when they intervened to stop the two sides, who exchanged blows. Several shops were also damaged in the violence.This is reportedly the first clash between supporters of the rival parties in West bengal since the announcement of the seven-phase lok sabha elections. Following the incident, the trinamool congress has called for a 24-hour bandh in Dinhata today. The incident happened when Pramanik, the local bjp MP, was on his way out after attending the meeting. The TMC was also scheduled to hold a meeting a few meters away from the spot. Pramanik also alleged that Guha, the North bengal Development minister, took the lead in beating up bjp activists and instructing the police to arrest them.Guha rejected the allegations as “baseless” and claimed that bjp supporters threw stones at the TMC’s rally venue. Following the incident, bjp leader amit Malviya called the incident in Dinhata a ‘state-sponsored crime signal’. Taking to X, he shared a video of the incident and wrote, “TMC goons attack Union minister and BJP’s Coochbehar candidate Nishith Pramanik. The cars in his convoy were vandalised. Udayan Guha, minister in mamata Banerjee’s cabinet, lead the gang of armed criminals…This kind of state-sponsored crime signals complete breakdown of L&O.” “The governor has also sent a list of habitual offenders received through the ‘logsabha’ portal for appropriate preventive action to restrain them from blocking free and fair elections,” it said.