TMC MLA Asit Mazumdar and his supporters have been caught on camera assaulting BJP workers. BJP leaders in West Bengal have condemned the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) over this violence in the Hooghly district.
The incident occurred in the Khadinan More area in Hooghly district’s Chinsurah on August 5, when TMC workers attacked a BJP campaign rally. Mazumdar, a three-time MLA from the area, and his supporters stopped and assaulted BJP workers who were campaigning in an auto-rickshaw. At one point, Mazumdar was seen chasing someone with a stick in his hand.
The TMC alleged that BJP supporters ‘heckled’ their legislators after which they ‘intervened’. “They stopped my car and heckled me, after which our women workers intervened,” claimed Mazumdar. He further insisted that he had ‘opposed’ the BJP workers after he found them making ‘false allegations’ against the ruling party.
The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state, Suvendu Adhikari, took to Twitter to share visuals from the violent incident.
“Yesterday Asit Mazumdar – TMC MLA from Chinsurah, Hooghly – thrashed a BJP karyakarta for campaigning democratically. Those who questioned NHRC India’s post-poll violence report, citing ‘law of ruler, not rule of law’ in Bengal, haven’t seen Mamata Banerjee’s goonda raaj,” tweeted Adhikari.
The first clip shows Mazumdar (allegedly the man in a white kurta-pyjama) and his associates stride up to the auto-rickshaw being used for BJP campaigning. They start raining blows on the man seated inside. As the man flees, they chase him. Some TMC workers try to restrain an enraged Mazumdar, but he snatches a stick and starts beating the BJP worker with it. A woman also joins in and lands some blows. Cries of ‘maaro’ (beat) can be heard, as more men assault the BJP worker with sticks and shoes. Towards the end, Mazumdar advances menacingly and raises his hand at another elderly BJP worker.
Suvendu Adhikari also shared a second clip showing the TMC MLA allegedly groping a woman. “The uncouth pervert, amidst this chaos doesn’t even let go of a chance to grope a lady (seems to be an @AITCofficial party worker accompanying him). He’s a dirty rogue, who would have to pay for his sins, in foreseeable future”, Suvendu tweeted.
In addition to the LoP’s tweet, BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya reflected on the broken law and order situation in the state. He stated that it had become evident that the ruling party MLA attacks opposition workers on the street with a stick.
BJP MLA from Asansol, Agnimitra Paul, also weighed in on the matter. “History proves that the wheel of time does not move in the same direction always. TMC MLAs are not being able to tolerate BJP. Be prepared TMC. Time will prove…You will be paid back in your own coin,” she warned.
Anti-democratic.