A 12-hour bandh called by the BJP in East Midnapore’s Khejuri on Monday to protest against the death of two villagers on Friday ended in a whimper as the tepid public response forced the party to withdraw it within six hours.

Despite deploying threats and highhanded tactics to enforce the strike, party insiders said that unwilling to expose its waning grip on the ground, the BJP eventually decided to quietly wind up the bandh six hours before schedule.

According to police, Sujit Das, 23, a resident of Purba Bhanganmari, and Chandra Paik, 65, from Jhantihari village, were electrocuted when a live wire snapped around 2.30am at a cultural event held as part of Muharram celebrations. They were rushed to the block health centre, where doctors declared them dead.

The incident led to immediate unrest, with BJP workers laying siege to the local police station and the leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, alleging murder.

The BJP insisted that the two were beaten to death. Adhikari invoked religious sentiments to muster support for the bandh.

When Adhikari marched with BJP supporters from the Khejuri police station to Vidyapeeth intersection — a stretch of about 3km — on Monday, residents largely stayed away. By the time he addressed a gathering at Vidyapeeth Bazar at noon, the crowd had thinned considerably. At 12pm, Adhikari announced the withdrawal of the bandh.

While Adhikari didn’t give any reason for the withdrawal, BJP insiders said that the shocking response forced the leadership to withdraw it.

“Khejuri is said to be our stronghold and we won the Assembly seat here. But today, life was nearly normal as people did not respond to our call, which indicated a loss of credibility of the issue. Tough approach also did not work as people and police resisted the bandh and there were a few supporters to fight the issue,” a BJP leader in Khejuri said on the condition of anonymity.

The final call was taken after witnessing only around 500 supporters walking in the protest rally with Adhikari.

The day had begun with tensions running high. Adhikari had issued a combative call to ensure the success of the bandh, laced with overt communal overtones. Trinamool Congress supporters hit the streets early, vowing to resist the shutdown.

Clashes broke out between BJP and Trinamool supporters in Heria, Banshgoda
and Kalagechia.

BJP supporters allegedly attacked vehicles that did not heed the bandh call. Ferry services on the Rasulpur river were halted. The protesters blocked the Heria-Khejuri State Highway by placing fruit crates near Khejuri Vidyapeeth. A car was allegedly vandalised in Banshgoda.

The police confirmed the arrest of nine BJP supporters allegedly involved in
the disturbances.

As planned, Adhikari took part in a protest rally in the afternoon, where he said: “Politics cannot be done sitting at home. Politics has to be done on the streets. This is how I changed things in 2011. Here, I have secured 46 per cent votes in favour of the BJP. Hindus have united.”

Addressing journalists later, he maintained his claim that the two deaths were
not accidental.

“A doctor called the doctors involved with the autopsy and ordered them to write that the two persons died of electrocution,” Adhikari said.

He also accused the police of procedural lapses.

Adhikari’s claim suffered a blow after a video appeared to contradict the BJP’s narrative. The footage suggested the deaths were accidental, prompting widespread criticism from rivals and villagers.

Condemning the BJP, Trinamool leader Jalauddin Khan said: “Suvendu Adhikari has always loved to do politics over corpses. This time, too, it has not been any different.”

CPM leader Himansu Das said: “Hindus and Muslims live together in Khejuri. BJP spread lies and tried to impose a bandh, which the people rejected.”

Additional superintendent of police, Contai (rural), Suvendra Kumar said: “We have received the post-mortem report, where it was mentioned that the deaths were caused by electrocution.”