Kolkata, At least 10 persons were injured and shops, houses and vehicles were damaged in clashes between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP in several parts of West Bengal, the police said on Saturday.
A number of incidents of violence were reported from West Midnapore district.
Ten persons were injured in a BJP-Trinamool clash in Keshpur on Fridsay night. The Trinamool and the BJP claimed those assaulted were their workers, and blamed each other for the clashes.
The BJP accused the Trinamool of putting its office under lock in Belda. But the Trinamool denied the charge.
In Mohanpur, clashes at a party office triggered tension and led to vandalism.
The Trinamool Congress claimed that their workers had reclaimed the office which was forcibly captured by the BJP after its state President Dilip Ghosh won the Lok Sabha polls from the Midnapore constituency.
According to Trinamool leaders, after they reclaimed the office on Friday, the BJP workers vandalised it in the dead of the night.
The Trinamool has lodged a police complaint.
The BJP leaders, on the other hand, claimed that common people vandalised the office in protest against Trinamool-backed hoodlums carrying out anti-social activities in the area.
A BJP office was burnt down in East Midnapore distrcit’s Ramnagar. The BJP blamed the Trinamool, which denied the allegation.
In Sonamukhi in Bankura district, Trinamool workers allegedly beat up five BJP workers. On the contrary, Trinamool claimed their workers were assaulted.
In North 24 Parganas district’s Khardah, there were allegations that Trinamool workers, who had taken out a victory procession after sweeping the bypolls, attacked a BJP office and beat up a cadre of the saffron outfit.
There was tension in Boardghar area under Ghola police station of the same district after a mob, said to be comprising Trinamool workers, stoned shops and damaged motor cycles, besides surrounding the car of a local BJP leader, Kishore Kar.
Kar had come to the spot to receive state party chief Dilip Ghosh, who was scheduled to visit the house of a party supporter, which was allegedly ransacked by Trinamool workers.
Learning of Ghosh’s likely visit, the Trinamool workers had gathered in strength with black flags to stage a demonstration against him. Ghosh, however, did not turn up.
As police rushed in to diffuse the tension, Trinamool workers were seen jostling with the lawkeepers. The police finally brought the situation under control by chasing the ruling party activists with sticks.
In Hooghly district’s Haripal, Trinamool workers allegedly threw bombs and bricks and gave life threats over phone to BJP supporters. The ruling party claimed the incidents were the fallout of factional feuds within the BJP.
