Junior Union minister and former Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar on Thursday faced the wrath of his party workers who blocked his convoy on Diamond Harbour Road and demanded party leader Dilip Ghosh be reinstated as the state unit chief.
Majumdar and the BJP leadership, however, accused the Trinamool Congress of orchestrating the protests.
The senior BJP leader was on his way to Sarisha to meet party workers, who were attacked on November 14 when they were celebrating the Bihar Assembly poll results, apparently by Trinamool Congress workers.
Majumdar, who had returned to Calcutta late on Wednesday after an official tour to Slovakia, on Thursday also faced hostile "Dilip Ghosh fans" — BJP workers — who asked him to “go back”.
Party sources said that the minister faced protests in Sarisha just after meeting the BJP’s mandal president. A group of youths suddenly surrounded him, raised slogans and blocked his way, shouting “go back”.
Police rushed to the spot as the situation escalated, creating a passage to ensure the minister’s safe exit.
Responding to the incident, Majumdar said: “Trinamool Congress tried everything to prevent me from meeting the BJP workers who were attacked in Diamond Harbour on the day of the Bihar election results. But they could not stop us.”
Majumdar insisted that the demonstrators who were hostile to him were not from the BJP. “This is not the first time an attempt has been made to stop me in Diamond Harbour. I am not scared of Trinamool's intimidation… There is no law and order in Bengal,” he told reporters. Issuing a sharp warning, he added, “If we can help cool things down in Jammu and Kashmir, I can do it here too.”
One of the BJP workers, who was part of the demonstration, countered Majumdar. “We face attacks on the ground, but leaders only deliver speeches from the stage,” the worker, who chose not to be named, said bitterly.
Majumdar did not budge from his assertion.
“The protesters came disguised as Uttariyas to hide their actual identity.” Referring to an earlier incident, he said: “A few months ago Trinamool Congress used the same ploy when I went to Budge Budge to meet injured party workers attacked by Trinamool. They came to attack with saffron bands on their foreheads.... That time they did not claim to be BJP supporters. But this time they are making that claim as well. They are moving forward step by step.”
He added: “If the protesters were really BJP supporters, then why didn’t they meet the attacked BJP workers?”
On social media, Majumdar posted: “Look at the new approach of the uneducated barbaric Trinamool! Wearing saffron Uttariya around the neck and tilak on the forehead, they are protesting on the streets by pretending to be BJP workers! These very cheap and disgusting scripts are being delivered to the Trinamool, they are not worth a single penny.’’
He claimed that local Trinamool leader Raju Das was among those who protested against him on Thursday. Raju, a former BJP Yuva Morcha vice-president, left the party in 2021 to join Trinamool.
However, Raju denied any involvement in Thursday's protests against Majumdar. “Those who protested are BJP’s grassroots workers. It is all a result of internal factional conflict in the BJP,” Raju said.
With Diamond Harbour repeatedly turning into a flashpoint and Majumdar’s ‘Jammu & Kashmir’ remark adding a fresh layer of controversy, political observers said Thursday’s episode was likely to sharpen tensions in the area in the run-up to the 2026 Assembly elections.
Amid the escalating war of words, a BJP leader claimed: “The protestors joined the BJP a few days ago through former Diamond Harbour MLA Deepak Halder. They are not BJP workers.”
Contacted, Halder rejected attempts to link him to the controversy, saying those circulating such claims should themselves be asked “whether they are actually BJP supporters or not”.
Local BJP leader Abhijit Das aka Bobby called the incident a deliberate ploy by Trinamool to create a division among the BJP leadership. He presented another theory. Those who demonstrated had collected BJP flags from a local Trinamool leader Shamim's office and left the area riding motorcycles parked in front of his office, Abhijit alleged.
Reacting to the BJP’s allegations, Trinamool state vice-president Jayprakash Majumder criticised the party for organisational disarray. “They have not formed a state committee yet. Sukanta Majumdar is actively putting hindrances to form of a state committee. Suvendu Adhikari is acting on his own,” Jay Prakash Majumdar said.
A local Trinamool leader also dismissed Majumdar's allegations. "It is entirely their internal feud. Those who protested were members of the BJP’s lower-tier cadre.”
Arjun Singh case
Justice Jay Sengupta of Calcutta High Court on Thursday issued an order restraining the police from taking coercive steps against BJP leader Arjun Singh in connection with a case of firing outside a jute mill gate in front of his residence at Jagatdal in Bhatpara, North 24-Parganas, in September this year.
The restraining order will be in force till December 15.
The judge was hearing the petition of Singh, a former BJP MP, seeking anticipatory bail in the case.
According to the police, Singh had fired from his own revolver at a rival group.