After his convoy was attacked in West Bengal’s Alipurduar on Thursday, Dilip Ghosh has said that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was trying to gain footholds in North Bengal through violence.
Apart from blaming the TMC for running the attack against him, Ghosh also accused the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) for playing a part in pelting stones on his car while he was on his way to Alipurduar’s Jaigaon to attend a public meeting.
“There’s a new equation in Dooars and in the hills with the new alliance of GJM and TMC. GJM only had three seats in the hills and TMC has already slipped in North Bengal. Now they are collectively trying to restrict BJP with violence,” Ghosh, the BJP state president in West Bengal, said in an exclusive interview to ABP Ananda.
“Yesterday’s incident was a collective effort to scare BJP. Even though we have won in those areas by massive votes during the Lok Sabha elections, they are trying to exert their strength through violence. They’re trying to create an unrest in the Dooars region.
“If they had been able to scare us, BJP wouldn’t have come this far. There was fear in Coochbehar earlier but I held meetings and rallies there with huge turnouts. People are letting go off their fears and coming out. They are not ready to be scared again,” he added.
On Thursday, Ghosh was on his way to Jaigaon, a town in Alipurduar bordering Bhutan, to attend a public meeting when his convoy faced random stone pelting in nearby Mangalbari region.
The incident, which broke the window shield of Ghosh’s and other cars, led to a huge turmoil in Jaigaon. BJP put the blame directly on TMC and GJM supporters. However, both the parties have denied all the allegations.
The Hindutva party complained that the police tried to stop them from continuing their rally. It led to a confrontation among the BJP workers and police, worsening the ground situation further.
The police claimed that BJP had not sought permission for the bike rally. As per a report carried by Bengali portal The Wall, BJP had permission to conduct the rally with 25 bikes, whereas they took out more than 100 bikes.
Dilip Ghosh, Medinipur MP, was also accused of breaching police warning and continuing the rally with more than 100 bikes, leading to the clash with police.
After the BJP rally reached Jaigaon’s GST Mor, it was encountered with hostility by some GJM supporters with black flags and black masks. They received the rally with “Dilip Ghosh Go Back” slogan.
It was during that moment that Ghosh’s car was attacked with stones, BJP complained. The situation had taken to a violent turn before the police brought peace. Afterwards, the BJP state president continued with his rally and reached the meeting venue.