The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday hit hard at the BJP for what it called a “desperate and communal attempt” to politicise Murshidabad violence, accusing the saffron party of spreading misinformation and manufacturing outrage to polarise voters ahead of the elections.
Hours after the BJP latched onto a Calcutta High Court-appointed committee report alleging police inaction and political links to the violence, state minister Shashi Panja and Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh tore into the Opposition’s narrative.
“This is the BJP’s latest attempt to use dead bodies for votes,” said Ghosh, rejecting the charge that Hindus were specifically targeted in Murshidabad’s Dhulian area during last month’ violence during anti-Waqf Act protests. “They’re communalising tragedy and maligning Bengal. But Bengal sees through their games.”
Panja said the BJP’s outrage was carefully timed and scripted. “There is a clear pattern—outsiders entering sensitive zones, inciting tensions, then crying foul,” she said. “They want blood on the streets so they can cry victims in Delhi.”
The political firestorm erupted after BJP leaders cited a report by a three-member High Court committee that visited Murshidabad earlier this month. The report claimed that councillor Mehboob Alam had “orchestrated” the April 11 attacks and that police were “completely inactive.”
Over 100 houses were damaged and two men, Haragobinda Das and his son Chandan Das, were killed during the four-day violence.
The Trinamool accused the BJP of selective reading and sensationalism. “The state has already taken legal action and ensured compensation. Investigations are on. Why does the BJP need a riot to win Bengal?” Ghosh said.
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had earlier compared the Murshidabad violence to the Pahalgam massacre. “If Hindus were selectively targeted in Kashmir, the same has happened here,” he said. The party’s IT cell head and also BJP’s Bengal co-minder Amit Malviya called the report “a damning indictment” of the TMC government.
Trinamool, in turn, called out what it sees as the BJP’s “obsession with inciting fear.” “You paraded 'Operation Sindoor', now you’re weaponising Murshidabad. This isn’t politics—it’s incitement,” said TMC’s Arup Chakraborty in a social media post.
Panja also took aim at the Centre’s Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, linking it to the unrest. “This is a border district. There’s deep insecurity and confusion caused by the Centre’s ill-planned law. And now BJP is adding fuel to fire,” she said.
The Calcutta High Court had earlier directed central force deployment in the area.
