The BJP on Thursday accused the Trinamool Congress of fostering a "mafia culture" and "maha jungle raj" in West Bengal following the killing of an aide of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, alleging that the incident reflects the "institutionalised" post-poll violence prevailing in the state.

The saffron party further alleged that the TMC has become "rattled" after its electoral defeat in the state and that the murder of Adhikari's aide is part of the TMC's "Khela Hobe" (game is on) politics.

Adhikari's personal assistant, Chandranath Rath, was shot dead by bike-borne assailants who intercepted Rath's vehicle near Doltala in Madhyamgram around 10.30 pm on Wednesday, forced it to stop and opened fire at point-blank range before fleeing.

After post-mortem his mortal remains were consigned to flames in his native village in Purba Medinipur district on Thursday, as thousands of villagers mourned his death.

BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh on Thursday claimed that he was in a conversation with Chandranath Rath when the latter was shot dead.

"I have no words. Chandranath was very close to all our MLAs in the Assembly. He was Suvendu da’s trusted aide. I have nothing more to say," Ghosh told reporters at a private hospital in Madhyamgram.

Ghosh claimed that he was speaking to Rath over the phone around 10 pm on Wednesday while returning from Ultadanga.

We were discussing Union home minister Amit Shah's visit and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed presence at a swearing-in programme at Brigade Parade Ground on Saturday, he said.

"Suddenly, his voice changed. I heard some groaning sounds and then what seemed like gunshots. After that, there was silence," the Siliguri MLA said.

Ghosh said he repeatedly called Rath, but there was no response from the other end.

After informing Adhikari about the incident, Ghosh rushed to the private hospital where Rath had been taken.

The BJP alleged that the attack was "pre-planned".

Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan condemned the killing and alleged that the TMC has turned to violence after suffering electoral defeat in the state.

"TMC and Mamata Banerjee have become rattled after their crushing defeat. There is no place for violence in democracy, but the TMC has resorted to violence," Chouhan told reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Lucknow.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said a "blood-soaked political culture" has been "unleashed" by Banerjee and the TMC in West Bengal.

"What the state is witnessing today is a direct assault on democracy itself, where dissent is answered with violence and political rivalry is treated as justification for murder," he said in a post on X.

Taking aim at the TMC supremo, Pradhan said Banerjee's "desperation over Bengal steadily slipping out of the TMC's grip" is now manifesting in its "ugliest form".

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh alleged that the murder of Rath and the shooting of another BJP leader Rohit Roy are part of the TMC's political model of "Khela Hobe".

"The cold-blooded murder of Suvendu Adhikari's PA and the shooting of Rohit Roy are not ordinary incidents, but part of the planned political model of the TMC's 'Khela Hobe'," Chugh told PTI Videos.

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari also described Rath's killing as a "pre-planned murder".

"My heartfelt condolences to Chandra's family in this moment of insurmountable grief. This is a pre-planned murder by goons related to TMC. Those responsible, both the perpetrators and their political backers who ordered this, should face the strictest possible punishment," he wrote on X.

The BJP's West Bengal unit president, Samik Bhattacharya, on Thursday described the killing of the close aide of Adhikari as a "planned political murder" and claimed that it is designed to cause instability in the state.