Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday met BJP MP Khagen Murmu as he undergoes treatment at a Siliguri hospital after being assaulted allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers during a visit to flood-ravaged Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri a day earlier.

The chief minister’s visit came on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent Union minister Kiren Rijiju to assess the flood situation in north Bengal and send a message to BJP workers that the party’s top leadership had taken the attack on its lawmakers ahead of next year’s Assembly polls very seriously.

Trinamool sources termed the chief minister’s meeting with Murmu a “masterstroke” to neutralise the BJP’s attempts to corner the Bengal ruling party over the assault. The BJP, on the other hand, has deployed its full might and involved its central leadership to dispel any notion of weakness that such an attack on its lawmakers in the party’s north Bengal stronghold might create.

Shankar Ghosh, Siliguri MLA and the BJP’s chief whip in the Bengal Assembly, was also injured in the attack.

Mamata made an unannounced visit to the private hospital in Matigara on the outskirts of Siliguri and spent around 10 minutes in Murmu’s cabin.

“I met him at the hospital and spoke to him. I have also spoken to the doctors. He has high diabetes, and it takes time to control his sugar levels. He has injuries near his ears, but is quite well. I have prayed for his speedy recovery,” Mamata told reporters.

The BJP slammed Mamata for not meeting Ghosh and claimed that her hospital visit was an attempt to downplay the incident.

“She asked him (Murmu) how he was injured despite knowing that Trinamool goons attacked him. It is shameful that no one has been arrested so far and that the chief minister neither condemned the barbaric attack nor promised any action. The attack will be avenged in the 2026 elections,” said leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who met the Malda Uttar MP at the hospital along with BJP leader Biplab Deb.

Adhikari pointed out that Kumargram BJP MLA Manoj Oraon was attacked by goons while distributing relief materials in his constituency on the day Mamata met Murmu.

“Three persons were injured. Her visit to the hospital is an eyewash as her party’s goons continue to attack BJP lawmakers,” he said.

BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya demanded an NIA probe into the Nagrakata incident.

A BJP source said Union home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh had spoken to senior state BJP leaders and reviewed the situation. The home ministry sought a report from the Bengal government.

“I have come here to assess the situation and the brutal attack on our party’s MP and MLA while visiting flood-affected areas. I will return to Delhi and submit a report to the Prime Minister,” Rijiju said in Jalpaiguri on Tuesday.

Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari visits BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh, who is undergoing treatment following an attack on him by a mob in landslide-hit Nagrakata of Jalpaiguri district, at a private hospital at Matigara area, in Siliguri, West Bengal, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. PTI

He said the matter had been brought to the notice of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who had sought an action-taken report. If the response is found unsatisfactory, the BJP parliamentary party may move a privilege motionin Parliament.

Bhattacharya said the party did not want to resort to violence. “The tribal people of the area were ready to retaliate against those who attacked our leaders. However, we stopped them as we do not want to follow the path of violence like Trinamool,” he said.

BJP leaders have urged Shah to visit north Bengal soon and address a rally to send a clear message that the attackers would not be spared.

Tripura vandalism

The Trinamool state headquarters in Agartala, Tripura, was allegedly vandalised by BJP supporters on Monday in retaliation for the north Bengal attack.

“The violent attack on @AITC4Tripura’s office by BJP-backed goons is not an isolated act of aggression, it is an open assault on democracy...,” Trinamool’s official social media handle posted.

Tripura will send a five-member delegation to Agartala on Wednesday.