BJP expresses concerns over TMC's bike rallies in Birbhum, cites deteriorating law & order

BJP leader for Birbhum district, Dhruv Shah on Saturday expressed concerns over the prevailing law and order situation in Birbhum ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal. He alleged that TMC is creating fear among voters by conducting 'massive bike rallies'.

"Ahead of the state Assembly elections, Trinamool Congress (TMC) is trying to create an atmosphere of fear among voters by carrying out massive bike rallies across different villages of the district. The police are not paying heed to the current situation at all. There is hardly any police presence at these rallies." Shah said.

Shah's allegation comes in the context of bike rallies held by TMC under the supervision of TMC leaders Sabir Ali Khan and Enamul Sainthia, despite the objection by the election commission of India for organising bike rallies.

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Intense political heat ahead of West Bengal elections

The West Bengal election gets intense by the day with political mudslinging, violence and claims of defeating each other by heavy margins. Moreover, the exodus of TMC members continues unabated with dozens of its members jumping ship to join BJP, which has emerged as the prime challenger for the ruling party.

Rajib Banerjee, who was a former West Bengal Minister also resigned from the post and quit TMC on Friday. The former state minister, TMC's Baishali Dalmiya, Prabir Ghoshal and Rathin Chakraborti came to Delhi on Saturday along with BJP's Mukul Roy, and Kailash Vijayvargiya seemingly to discuss the switch to BJP.

TMC chief and the state's incumbent chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her ex confidante Suvendu Adhikari who switched allegiance to BJP are most likely to battle it out for Nandigram constituency. While Mamata Banerjee announced to contest the elections from Nandigram which is a stronghold of Suvendu Adhikari, the latter has vowed to defeat her with at least 50,000 votes or else he will quit politics. Adhikari has taken the responsibility of defeating Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram regardless of who contests the constituency from BJP.

At present, the Mamata Banerjee led party holds 222 seats in the assembly. The BJP is aiming to cross the 200 seats mark while the ruling party vows to not allow BJP to come to power, calling the saffron party as "outsiders". The Legislative Assembly election for 294 seats in the State is likely to be held in May 2021.

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