Kolkata: All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was roughed up on Saturday, May 30, allegedly by locals, when he visited West Bengal’s Sonarpur area to meet families of post-poll violence victims, police said.
Stones, shoes, and eggs were hurled at the TMC MP by unidentified people who even attempted to rain blows and kicks on him. They shouted ‘thief’ slogans at Banerjee and called him “Bangladeshi.”
Banerjee was seen being escorted out of the area with a police helmet on and his shirt tattered.
“Look what they have done to me. This was pre-planned. There is no police in the area. They want to kill me. I will not leave this place till the local police send their force and offer protection to the victims’ families,” Banerjee said while meeting the family of a deceased post-poll violence victim.
Later, after the attack, a visibly upset Banerjee told reporters that he would “definitely move the High Court.”
“They threw a brick, threw an egg, and pelted stones. Please tell me what this is. And all the people standing nearby, the people of the area they are still meeting us and still greeting us with love and respect go and ask those who are doing hooliganism here,” he said.
“We have all the video evidence. There’s a community hall nearby. From 11 am onwards, goons were kept in that community hall to pelt stones. Look at what’s happened to my glasses. They hit my eye with a brick, and I can’t open my eye. He’s punched me in the back, chest, arm, and leg. I was wearing a helmet, otherwise my head would have been split in two. You can make my body fall, but my resolve is strong and strong, the passion and enthusiasm are still there, and this head won’t bow down.”
Another video shows women gathered in large numbers, holding eggs and ready to throw them at Banerjee.
True face exposed: TMC slams BJP
The TMC slammed Bharatiya Janata Party, calling the attack on Banerjee a “reminder” of how swiftly the law and order has deteriorated under the “shameless regime.”
“If a sitting Opposition MP can be targeted in broad daylight, what hope is there for ordinary citizens? Is this BJP’s idea of democracy? Is this the “good governance” that PM Modi never stops boasting about?” the party wrote on X.
“Violence, intimidation and political hooliganism have become the defining features of BJP’s rule. Those responsible may enjoy political patronage today, but they cannot escape accountability forever. Bengal is watching. India is watching. The world is watching,” it added.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the attack, stating the lack of police protection “speaks volumes about BJP’s politics of vendetta.”
“The deliberate lack of adequate police protection for a prominent Opposition leader speaks volumes about the BJP’s politics of vendetta and persecution,” he said.
Kharge demanded that the state and Union governments secure opposition leaders and take steps to prevent such attacks.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav also came down on the saffron party, alleging the party of “orchestrating” the attack.
“By orchestrating a murderous attack on Shri Abhishek Banerjee ji, a key leader of the Trinamool Congress in Bengal, the anarchic BJP government in Bengal has proven that the BJP is capable of nothing but hate-filled, negative, violent politics,” he wrote on X.
“Even in such a sensitive environment, the absence of police arrangements points to a major conspiracy. Utterly condemnable!”
