A clash between rally-bound BJP cadres and Trinamool workers turned one of Calcutta’s busiest intersections into a battlefield on Saturday afternoon, hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived to address a Brigade Parade Grounds gathering.
Bengal minister Shashi Panja’s home, set yards from the violence-hit Central Avenue-Vivekananda Road crossing, came under attack during the bricks-and-sticks clash that each party accused the other of orchestrating.
Blaming BJP supporters, the commerce and industries minister said she was injured in the back and the right shoulder and that 50 party workers were hurt too.
Her window panes were shattered; the main door on the ground floor bore the marks of the battering it took.
As more people from either side joined in, the violence spiralled. Brick fragments targeted passing cars, and pedestrians and bystanders ran for cover.
Police were — not unusually — accused of reacting late.
A police vehicle was smashed and the officer in charge of Bowbazar police station was seen lying on the pavement at one point.
Vandals target a police car and hurl stones during the clash on Saturday
The Election Commission has sought a report from the police commissioner on the violence and the attack on Panja’s home, sources said. It has sought details on whether adequate forces had been deployed and the central forces utilised.
At Brigade, Modi alleged that Bengal’s ruling party had tried to prevent BJP supporters from attending his rally.
He described the Trinamool Congress government as a “nirmam sarkar (heartless government)”, an apparent play on the name of the chief minister, Mamata, which means compassion.
“This nirmam sarkar pulled out all its weapons today. Bridges were shut, vehicles were stopped, a traffic jam was created, BJP flags were uprooted, and posters were torn to stop you from attending the meeting,” Modi told the crowd.
Modi added: “But you (Trinamool) couldn’t stop a sea of people from turning up. That day isn’t far when the rule of law will be established in Bengal.”
He threatened: “TMC ke kisi atyachari ko chhora nahi jayega. Chun Chun ke hisab liye jayega (No oppressor from the TMC will be spared. They will be picked out one by one and made to pay).”
Trinamool condemned the “unprecedented and preplanned” attack on Panja and party workers.
“That such an attack could be carried out is beyond our imagination,” state education minister Bratya Basu told a news conference at the party headquarters.
“A woman, also a cabinet minister, was attacked inside her home today without provocation. Who are these people? You will hire people from other states just because you won’t (otherwise) be able to fill up the Brigade Parade Grounds?”
Trinamool supporters said the trouble erupted around 12.30pm when some rally-bound BJP workers stopped their chartered bus before a flex banner outside Panja’s Central Avenue home that carried the slogan “Boycott BJP”. They allegedly tore the flex to shreds.
“Our party workers didn’t react initially and restored the flex. But another group of passing BJP supporters repeated the act, sparking the trouble,” a Trinamool worker said.
Stones and bricks began flying, bringing vehicles headed towards Esplanade to a halt on Central Avenue.
People ran helter-skelter; the police pulled out their helmets and shields. Within minutes, the intersection was strewn with bricks and stones.
“We tried to escape the stones by lying on the floor of the bus,” a BJP supporter from Baranagar, north Calcutta, said.
“Two stones landed on the windshield and shattered it. A stone landed on a supporter’s forehead and another on my foot. The police on duty didn’t come to our aid.”
The driver of the Route 234 private bus that the BJP supporters had hired said the brick that landed on the windshield left him injured.
“Trinamool has realised that its end is near,” a BJP worker said while helping some of his party colleagues to safety.
As the violence escalated, with several hundred from each side joining in, additional forces arrived from adjoining police stations.
A brick hit the left shoulder of Bappaditya Naskar, officer in charge of Bowbazar police station, flooring him. Stones continued to rain on Panja’s home.
Another police team, headed by the officer in charge of Burtolla police station, Subarna Dutta Chaudhuri, stood guarding the entrance to the minister’s home, with the main door shut from inside.
The deputy commissioner of police (central division) later arrived and rescued Panja. By then, the Rapid Action Force had been deployed. The violence continued till sometime between 2pm and 2.15pm.
Police said a case had been filed, the charges including unlawful assembly, rioting, obstructing public servants, and causing grievous hurt with dangerous weapons.
“Eight policemen are injured, and four men have been arrested,” deputy commissioner (central) Indira Mukherjee said.
“No political party has lodged a complaint yet. Raids are on to identify those involved in the violence.”
A senior officer said CCTV footage was being examined, too, and the statements of the injured being recorded.
Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said the BJP workers had been attacked to try and foil the Brigade rally. He played a video before the media as purported evidence.
“Shashi Panja’s aides pelted buses carrying supporters to the Brigade rally with stones. Several TMC councillors were present during the attack,” he alleged.
“Shashi Panja, the mastermind of the attack, carriedout the violence with her team of councillors.”