Opposition condemns attack on BJP MP in Jalpaiguri

The Left Front, BJP and Congress today strongly condemned the attack on a BJP MP from Malda North, Khagen Murmu, at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district. The CPI-M politburo member and state secretary, Md. Salim said the incident was part of a larger pattern of political intolerance shared by both the BJP and the Trinamul Congress.

“Both BJP and Trinamul Congress have always tried to crush Opposition movements. The attack on Mr Murmu is not an isolated case. In Uttar Pradesh and other BJP-ruled states, the saffron party throttles dissent through terror, and here in Bengal, chief minister Mamata Banerjee is following the prescription of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. So, the TMC-backed goons unleashed a violent attack on Mr Murmu,” Mr Salim alleged. Senior Congress leader and AICC member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also criticised the state government, linking its failure to address the disaster in north Bengal with the attack on the BJP MP.

Advertisement

“Yesterday, the chief minister was busy attending the Carnival while people were suffering in the flood. Today she is blaming the Sikkim government for water release. The Met office had warned about the bad weather, but the Bengal government took no precautionary measures. It delayed relief operations for the flood-affected people,” Mr Chowdhury said.

The BJP, in a sharp statement, held the ruling Trinamul Congress directly responsible for the assault. “While people were dying and villages were submerged, a respected tribal leader and two-time BJP MP Khagen Murmu was brutally attacked on his way to Nagrakata to help flood victims. Stone pelting and physical assault on an MP trying to help flood victims is unforgivable. This is not an accident, it is the outcome of TMC’s gundaraj and the complete collapse of law and order in Bengal,” the party said.

BJP national spokesperson and Puri MP Dr Sambit Patra said:“Mamata Banerjee and her administration must explain how goons roam free, why relief workers are not protected, and why justice is never delivered. We demand immediate FIRs, strict action against the perpetrators, and protection for those serving the people. From Sandeshkhali’s shameful assault on women to one scam after another—teachers’ recruitment, coal, cattle, ration and many more—Bengal has been bleeding under TMC’s misrule. The TMC’s days of impunity are numbered.”