Kolkata: The gunning down of a BJP leader in West Bengal’s Purba Bardhaman district has prompted a fresh war of words between the party and the ruling Trinamool Congress, at a time when tensions are already running high between the arch political rivals over violence in Howrah over a Ram Navami procession.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur has called Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee “biased and anti-Hindu”, and West Bengal BJP Chief Dr Sukanta Majumdar said the CM is “only for people of one religion”. Meanwhile, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said Jha was known locally as “coal mafia”.
Twenty-four hours have passed since Raju Jha was killed, and the police are yet to make an arrest. A senior police officer from the district told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that no political link to the killing has been established so far. “It has been only 24 hours, the investigation is at an early stage, we are questioning witnesses but haven’t yet found any political links. No arrests have been made so far,” he added.
Jha, who was travelling with a friend, had made a halt at Shaktigarh, a popular stop for refreshments on National Highway 19, when miscreants opened fire from another vehicle, which the police have recovered. Eyewitnesses claimed that at least five rounds of bullets were fired, police sources said. While Raju succumbed to bullet injuries, his friend was grievously injured.
Jha, a businessman, had joined the BJP ahead of the 2021 state assembly polls in the presence of then BJP MP Arjun Singh. Jha has multiple police cases against him, including illegal coal mining, according to an NDTV report.
Union Minister Thakur told ANI Sunday: “It can be seen how the chief minister is biased and anti-Hindu. Mamata didi is sleeping and providing security to one section and instigates violence against people of the Hindu community.”
Earlier in the day, state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar claimed he was stopped from going to violence-hit Shibpur area in Howrah, where Section 144 has been imposed.
The subservient police force stopped me from entering Shibpur where Hindus were mercilessly attacked during & after Ram Navami. State Minister Arup Roy was freely roaming in the same area flouting the imposition of Section 144. Is law not applicable on TMC leaders? Autocracy!
— Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (@DrSukantaBJP) April 2, 2023
While on his way to meet Jha’s family, he told mediapersons: “West Bengal CM (is) not for all but only for people of one religion”.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told ThePrint: “BJP who has been pointing fingers at the TMC, is themselves involved in the coal scam (sic). The moment a person joins the BJP, the washing machine cleans them. He has photos with the central coal minister. The matter needs to be thoroughly investigated.”
The BJP had moved the Calcutta High Court seeking a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the Howrah violence that stretched over two days. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose regarding law and order in the state, and sought a report at the earliest.
On Thursday, clashes had broken out and vehicles torched in Howrah’s Shibpur area, a suburb adjoining Kolkata, after a Ram Navami procession passing through GT Road turned violent.
Tension prevailed in the area even as police carried out flag marches and additional personnel were deployed to maintain law and order.
Heavy stone-pelting took place at Shibpur for the second consecutive day Friday, triggering a full-blown confrontation between the ruling TMC and BJP.
Mamata Banerjee had Friday said it was not Hindus nor Muslims, but the BJP and other right-wing organisations that were behind the violence in Howrah’s Kazipara area during a procession on Ram Navami.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)