Within hours of TMC MP Arjun Singh joining BJP, a frivolous police complaint has been lodged against him by leaders of TMC Youth Wing and attacks have been made on his business associates.
New Delhi: Within hours of TMC MP Arjun Singh joining BJP, the Bengal political heavyweight has been facing TMC's backlash. Not only a frivolous police complaint has been lodged against him by leaders of TMC Youth Wing, but also attacks have been made on his business associates.
A host of leaders, mostly from TMC has recently joined BJP, for the upcoming 2019 general election in Bengal.
Samrat Topadar is the general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) youth wing. He is much lower in hierarchy and power in terms of MLA Arjun Singh. But within a day he joined BJP, amid much fanfare in New Delhi, a police complaint was filed against him by Topadar.
In the complaint, Samrat requested to file a first information report (FIR) against Arjun Singh and alleged an article on Bengali daily based on a comment of Singh has hurt the 'sentiments of AITC activists, followers and the citizen of Bengal as a whole'.
He claimed, Singh said, "Ma, Mati manush ekhon money, money, money" (Mother, Earth, People are now money, money and money). 'Ma, Mati, Manush' is TMC's slogan and was coined by Mamata Banerjee herself.
Soon after, one of the key associates of Singh was attacked by unidentified miscreants, while he was at his residence. It was an attack in the heart of Singh's constituency, at one of Singh's own. A CCTV footage that MyNation is in possession of, suggests a man in a white shirt came and kicked the chair twice. This happened, even as another man downed the shutter and the third kept a vigil from a distance.
The identity of the attackers is not yet ascertained. Many within BJP suspect that it was a political retaliation on Singh and his associate.
Now the question is: Can a sitting MLA face such political backlash?
Bengal had an ugly history of political violence and in recent time, it has only soared. The memories of hanging dead bodies of Dulal Kumar and Trilochan Mahato in politically volatile Purulia district are still fresh minds of many within Bengal.
Also read: BJP soaking in TMC rebels a risky proposition or shrewd strategy?
Dulal had been an active member of the BJP's OBC Morcha in Balarampur from where Trinamul was wiped out in the rural polls. Mahato too was associated with the BJP.
In Birbhum, another BJP activist Tapas Bagdi was found dead under suspicious circumstances that led BJP to claim TMC hand behind it.
In fact, in the panchayat polls, 34% of seats went uncontested due to the large scale violence and intimidation. Even the Election Commission has granted an unprecedented 7 phase polling for Bengal, taking this into account.
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