West Bengal post-poll violence: BJP plans protests against TMC on June 23

The BJP on Thursday decided to hold demonstrations across West Bengal next week against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) over post-poll violence in the state. According to reports, demonstrations will be held in Kolkata on June 23 followed by protests in districts on June 25. According to party sources, the decision was taken at a high-level meeting attended by central BJP leaders Shiv Prakash, Arvind Menon and Amit Malviya apart from state unit chief Dilip Ghosh.

BJP plans demonstrations against TMC over post-poll violence in West Bengal 

The BJP hit out at the TMC and alleged that the saffron party's supporters and their families are facing violence.  In addition, the BJP has also claimed that the supporters and their families are being forced to flee their homes while the administration is doing nothing to stop it. 

"Thousands of our workers are still out of their homes. They are having a difficult time in the rains. The meeting took stock of the situation," Ghosh told reporters. 

The BJP has also instructed its MPs and MLAs to stay in their constituencies and play an active role  in bringing back home BJP members and supporters who had fled. Apart from the decision to hold demonstrations, the meeting also decided to observe International Yoga Day on June 21 at the state and district level following Covid-19 protocols and involve important personalities from different walks of life in the programmes, the sources said. The meeting also dissected the reasons for the poll reverses by the party.

West Bengal elections and post-poll violence

The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC won a landslide victory in the recent assembly elections. The TMC defeated the BJP with a clear majority. The EC's data stated that the TMC won 213 seats while the BJP garnered 77 seats. However, the other alliance consisting of Congress-Left-ISF had failed to win a single seat. On the other hand, independent candidates have bagged two seats. The BJP gained 74 more seats than the previous election with a vote share of 38.13% against TMC's 47.94%. Even so, Mamata Banerjee was defeated by her ex-aide Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram who had joined the BJP. 

Soon after the polls, violence ensued in the state that claimed at least 16 lives after the declaration of poll results. While the MHA sought a detailed report from the state government regarding the "post-election violence targeting opposition political workers in the state" and sent a 4-member team there, PM Modi called up Dhankhar and expressed his anguish at the law and order situation. Though TMC attributed the deaths to "intra-BJP fights," Banerjee requested everyone to remain peaceful.

With PTI Inputs