West Bengal: BJP calls 12-hour bandh; protests against alleged civic poll violence

The Bharatiya Janata Party has called for a 12-hour strike in West Bengal on Monday in a bid to protest against the ruling Trinamool Congress alleging rigging and violence during the civic body polls across the state. This came after incidents of violence and clashes surfaced during the voting of the civic body polls on Sunday. 

Informing about the state-wide shutdown, BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya spoke to the media and said that the bandh will be will remain in effect from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., while essential services like healthcare, milk supply, and media will continue to remain in force.

Concerning the same, visuals from across the state shows a minimal effect. In Birbhum's Sainthia area, trains continue to remain in movement while private bus services were halted and a lesser number of state govt buses are running on the road. 

Similarly in Barrackpore of North 24 Parganas, normal life and movement are being seen. In the meantime, several BJP workers were also seen protesting on the railway track of the Hooghly railway station on Monday, holding the BJP flags and banners. 

However, visuals from Siliguri showed empty roads and closed shops due to the bandh by BJP.

Meanwhile, speaking on BJP's 12-hour bandh, state party chief Sukanta Majumdar on Monday informed that the party workers are organising the strike while TMC workers continue to threaten them. "They are killing democracy," he added.

West Bengal government asserts to not allow a strike

Reacting to BJP's decision to call for a state-wide strike, the West Bengal government in a statement has stated that it will not allow any such activities and that all schools, colleges, and other establishments will continue to function normally. In its statement, it added that necessary measures will be taken to ensure that all the establishments and services function on a smooth basis and there are no disruptions. 

While voting for the 108 municipalities across the state took place on Sunday, around 95 lakh voters made it to the booths to cast their votes for electing ward representatives and mayors across 2,276 wards in West Bengal. During this while, incidents of violence were reported from multiple polling booths, and further disturbances were noted in certain areas as clashes between BJP and TMC supporters were witnessed.

BJP state chief Majumdar, while speaking to ANI, alleged that women were misbehaved with while hundreds of people entered the booths. 

Image: ANI