BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Monday threatened to take legal action against police for failing to provide him with protection according to a Calcutta High Court order, claiming that Sunday’s alleged attack on him was part of a Trinamool Congress conspiracy.
On Sunday, while Adhikari was on his way to attend the inauguration of multiple Kali Puja events in South 24-Parganas, he allegedly faced protests and “deadly attacks” from those he claimed were Trinamool workers.
“Yesterday’s incident is not a random act of hooliganism; it is a desperate conspiracy by the ruling Trinamool Congress party, where they are inciting illegal Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators and using them as weapons to attack the Opposition,” Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and the BJP Nandigram MLA, wrote in his
X handle.
“The Hon’ble Calcutta High Court, through an order (WPA 1097/2021), had directed the state government to ensure my security. Earlier orders dated 11.08.2021 and 16.08.2021 had also directed the authorities to provide security, but those orders were ignored as well. The police administration is fully responsible for this security failure, and appropriate legal action will be taken against it,” Adhikari added.
He also named 15 persons, including local Trinamool zilla parishad member Rekha Gazi, for leading the alleged attacks on him.
He claimed that his lawyer had lodged complaints against those individuals in different police stations, demanding prompt police action.
A source in the BJP said Adhikari’s move is deemed significant at a time when the party’s top leadership — including those in Delhi — have taken the alleged attack on him very seriously, particularly after the October 5 attack on BJP MP Khagen Murmu in flood-hit Nagrakata of Jalpaiguri, who was seriously injured.
Apart from Murmu, BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh, who was accompanying him, was also attacked. A day after that incident, BJP MLA Manoj Oraon faced a similar attack while visiting his Assembly constituency, Kumargram.
“Suvendu da has rightly said that it was a conspiracy hatched by the Trinamool Congress to weaken the BJP on the ground. So, this is high time to hit them back both legally and organisationally, as these incidents could impact the party’s grassroots morale,” said a BJP leader.
“With such attacks on party leaders, BJP workers on the ground may feel demoralised ahead of the elections. So, suitable action and a befitting reply to these attacks is the urgent need of the hour. The party should protest the attack on Adhikari across the state, besides supporting his legal steps,” he added.
Many insiders in the BJP have claimed that party workers in areas where the attacks took place in recent times had to immediately counter Trinamool workers and leaders with slogans. However, a section of senior BJP leaders believe that party workers should not be encouraged to directly confront Bengal’s ruling party in its strongholds.
“Trinamool can’t try such stunts (attacks on BJP leaders) in East Midnapore, where under Adhikari’s leadership, the BJP organisation is very strong,” a BJP leader said.
“In South 24-Parganas, the BJP’s organisational strength is not on a par (with Trinamool),” the BJP leader added.
A top BJP leader said: “We can’t forget what happened after the 2021 Assembly elections when post-poll violence forced many of our party workers to leave their homes. So, exposing them to direct street confrontations in the current situation in Bengal would not be a wise decision.”
According to him, Adhikari had taken the right step.
After the brutal attack on Murmu, the BJP had organised protests across the state, including in Calcutta. However, a section of party workers said the scale of the protest should be higher this time after the attackon Adhikari.
“In politics, attacks on the senapati (commander) always demoralise the sainik (soldiers). So, the BJP should come up with strong protests to counter the attacks; otherwise, the message to party workers will be adverse,” said political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty.
Trinamool Congress leaders, however, denied their party had anything to do with the attacks or the violence. Trinamool leader Arup Chakraborty called these instances “people’s spontaneous anger because of the BJP’s anti-Bengal, anti-Bengali stance.”
Adhikari and other Bengal BJP leaders should introspect why they had been at the receiving end of such agitations on the ground, he said.
“Also, they (the BJP) have no organisation on the ground. When Mamata Banerjee was in Opposition, she didn’t have central security forces like those currently provided to BJP leaders, including Suvendu Adhikari. Yet, she could reach people anywhere in the state because they were ready to welcome her. The BJP is trying to stay relevant in politics with just a few leaders, without genuine grassroots support,” said Chakraborty.
A BJP leader close to Suvendu Adhikari, however, said that despite the resistance on Sunday, he managed to visit all the scheduled venues and participate in the planned programmes.