Kolkata: A three-member BJP central delegation led by former union minister S S Ahluwalia will visit trouble-torn Bhatpara on Saturday, where two persons were killed and several others injured in clashes between two groups suspected to be affiliated to the TMC and the BJP, party sources said Friday.
“Our party leadership has named three-member delegation led by our MP from Bengal S S Ahluwalia that will visit Bhatpara tomorrow. He will be accompanied by MP Satyapal Singh and B D Ram. Other state leaders will also accompany them,” BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargia told PTI.
According to BJP sources, the delegation will submit report to party president and union home minister Amit Shah.
Raising fingers at the state police, the BJP central leadership accused them of acting as “TMC cadres” and demanded CBI inquiry into the Bhatpara firing incident on Thursday.
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The authorities have imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in and around the area following the violence.
The ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP blamed each other for the clash, which is seen as an attempt to establish dominance in Bhatpara, which comes under the Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency.
“Mamata Banerjee and her party goons along with the police have turned Bengal into killing fields just because the BJP won 18 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
“The kind of terror they have let loose in Bengal is unprecedented. They are trying to wipe out BJP cadres and voters from the Bhatpara area. But this will not yield any result,” Vijayvargia, BJP in-charge of Bengal, said.
BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said the saffron party would seek a CBI inquiry into the incident to bring out the truth.
“It has been decided by our party that we would seek CBI inquiry into the incident to bring out the truth. The police is claiming they have not opened fire.
“The TMC is claiming they are not involved in the incident. The locals are saying it was the police which opened fire and killed innocent civilians. So in order to bring out the truth, a CBI inquiry is needed,” BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha told PTI.
On asked about allegations whether outsiders led by the BJP had engineered the ruckus, Sinha termed it as “baseless”, and said only a CBI inquiry can unravel the truth.
Reacting to the BJP’s demand for a CBI inquiry, senior TMC leader and minister Jyotipriyo Mullick said, the BJP wants to “tamper evidence” about its involvement in the Bhatpara incident.
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“Since the declaration of Lok Sabha polls results, the BJP has been attacking minorities and Bengali families in the area,” Mullick said.
The BJP has called for a state-wide protest and demonstration against the killings.
The North 24 Paraganas unit of the party has called for a gherao of Barrackpore police commissionerate while the state leaders will conduct a protest march in the city.
Director General of Police Virendra had said after visiting the spot on Thursday, “The cause of the deaths is under investigation.”
A TMC citadel for long, Bhatpara has been witnessing frequent post-poll violence between the rival parties.
The fight has intensified ever since Lok Sabha member from Barrackpore, Arjun Singh, crossed over to the BJP from the TMC.
In the byelections to the Bhatpara assembly seat that were held along with the Lok Sabha elections, his son Pawan Singh had defeated TMC candidate and former state minister Madan Mitra.