Suvendu Adhikari visits BSF office in Kolkata, apologises for TMC's derogatory remarks

A delegation of BJP MLAs led by West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday visited the BSF office near Kolkata to apologise for the 'derogatory remarks' made against the force by a TMC MLA. In what is being referred to as a 'derogatory remark', TMC's Udayan Guha, during a discussion in the state Assembly on a resolution opposing the Centre's decision to extend BSF's jurisdiction, accused the BSF officers of 'letting loose atrocities on people living in the border areas'. Guha further accused the border force of 'inappropriately touching women trespassing the border areas in the name of security checks'.

"Some TMC MLAs used abusive languages for BSF in the Assembly. So, we have come here to apologise to BSF officers and thank them for their national service," Suvendu Adhikari said while speaking to the media. The BJP delegation that visited the BSF headquarter comprised Suvendu Adhikari and 65 others.

TMC hits back at BJP for the move 

Meanwhile, the TMC has hit back at the BJP for approaching the BSF. Taking to its official Twitter handle, the Mamata Banerjee-led party reiterated the 'respect' they had for BSF personnel across the country. "not something we need to define with lotuses and politically motivated speeches," wrote the party, adding that the leader of the Opposition should not confuse BSF as 'BJP Security Force'

The war of words comes in the backdrop of the West Bengal Assembly passing a resolution against the Central government's move to expand BSF's territory which empowers the force to conduct searches, arrest suspects and make seizures up to an area of 50 km of the international border in West Bengal, Punjab and Assam. 112 members voted in favour of the resolution and 63 members opposed it, leading to the passing of the resolution.