Hundreds of supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday clashed with the West Bengal police during the party’s march to Bikash Bhawan, the headquarters of the State education department. Police prevented BJP supporters from approaching Bikash Bhawan and used water cannons to disperse the crowd. The protest was organized by BJP Yuva Morcha (BJYM), along with State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, BJYM national president Tejasvi Surya and State BJYM president Indranil Khan.
The BJP’s march to Bikash Bhawan comes at a time when allegations of irregularities in appointment of teachers and non-teaching staff have come to fore. In some cases, the Calcutta High Court has directed CBI to probe the irregularities. Protests are also being organised by students who have appeared in the examinations conducted by the State government for appointment of teachers.
State BJP president Suknata Majumdar said that the youth of the State wanted to march to Bikash Bhawan for their future, but the police “blocked the road and tried to disperse the procession by using water cannons”.
“The BJP could not and will not be stopped by all these. The youth of Bengal say that they want jobs, not allowances,” Mr. Majumdar said.
Mr. Surya claimed many of the party supporters were baton charged and police refused to take the injured to the hospital. “I have not seen a more inhuman, more undemocratic and more politicized police than police of West Bengal,” the BJP MP from Bengaluru South alleged.
There was commotion for nearly an hour at Bidhhanagar in the north eastern parts of the city, where the BJP supporters clashed with the police.
While the BJP leadership alleged that several of their supporters were injured, but there was no confirmation from the police about the injuries. Trinamool Congress state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said that very few people had participated in the protest organised by BJP, which was led by the party’s State president. He alleged that BJP leaders were turning insecure after a series of bypoll setbacks and were trying to disturb the peaceful atmosphere in the state.
