The mayhem that the Trinamool Congress had unleashed several years ago in Purulia by trying to eliminate any opposition in the state by intimidating rivals with a gory display of its victims continues in West Bengal. Also continues unabated the BJP’s template response of sharing the bloody images of hanging bodies of its workers in a bid to garner public sympathy. In another tired and predictable response, Union Home Minister Amit Shah today called for a CBI investigation into the death of a BJP worker, who was found hanging under ‘mysterious’ circumstances in Kolkata this morning, hours before his visit to the city. He also sought a report from the West Bengal government.
The victim this time is a member of the BJP’s youth wing, Arjun Chowrasia, who was found hanging in an abandoned building near his house in north Kolkata. He was to lead a rally of motorcycles later today in one of the events planned for Amit Shah’s welcome to Kolkata. The BJP alleged that he had been murdered by the ruling Trinamool Congress, which strongly denied it.
“We will ensure that those behind the murder of BJP Yuva Morcha leader Arjun Chowrasia are punished. The Home Ministry is extremely concerned about this political violence and has asked for a report from the West Bengal government,” Amit Shah told reporters after meeting with Chowrasia’s family.
“Yesterday the Trinamool Congress government completed one year of its term. Today political murders have started in the state. BJP condemns the murder of Arjun Chowrasia. I met the grieving family, his grandmother was also beaten. BJP demands CBI inquiry into the incident,” the union home minister said.
The political murder has become the latest flashpoint in Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee’s party attributes every murder of a BJP worker to infighting in the opposition party. Banerjee’s party denied the charge. “The allegations against us are baseless. Let the police investigate the matter,” said Trinamool MP Santanu Sen.
Local Trinamool MLA Atin Ghosh said the allegations were by “BJP outsiders”. “How can you decide what has happened before a post-mortem? Why to call only Amit shah? Call the prime minister. The BJP is making unfounded allegations for political gains,” Ghosh said.
Leaders and workers of both parties protested for hours outside Chowrasia’s home, gripping the area in tension as Shah visited the West Bengal capital for the first time since the BJP lost the state election last year.
“Arjun Chowrasia, 27, BJYM Mondal Vice-President, North Kolkata was brutally slaughtered and hanged. This continuous slaying of opponent political workers highlights the demise of democracy in West Bengal. 57 BJP workers were massacred in the last year. Humanity is smothered by the TMC!” the BJP’s Bengal unit had earlier said in a tweet.
The BJP cancelled all events planned earlier to welcome the union home minister because of the murder, saying Shah had instructed the party to do so.
Senior West Bengal BJP leader Rahul Sinha said the man was murdered on the orders of top Trinamool Congress leaders because of the Amit Shah visit. “Our worker Arjun Chowrasia was murdered and hanged in the same Trinamool-style only because Home Minister Amit Shah’s programmes are scheduled today. It’s not only lower-level TMC leaders who are involved in this incident but even the top leadership is involved,” he said.
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