BJP raises pitch over violence; lodges plaint with EC

Kolkata: BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Friday took the Bhowanipore assembly bypoll beyond its geographical limits, calling it a battle against “humanitarian crisis in Bengal”.
“No matter what the election results are, the CM should listen to the wails of the mothers who lost their children in this politics of violence. Even Lord Indra was afraid of a mother’s sigh,” Patra said after campaigning with BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal at ward 72.

Patra was flanked by slain BJP Narkeldanga leader Abhijeet Sarkar’s mother and brother and also BJP Magrahat West leader Dhurjati Saha’s widow and mother.
“What kind of democracy is this where a skeleton is handed over to the family after 136 days to perform last rites?” Patra said with Abhijeet’s mother crying on the dais. The BJP leader wondered that the names of those who “killed BJP leader Dhurjati Saha” didn’t figure in the FIR. “Instead, police started a case of medical negligence against the nursing home where he was admitted,” Patra said.
He said that the Bengal CM didn’t pay heed to the “well-being of people”. Patra, while referring to the Calcutta High Court’s observations on the Bhowanipore bypoll, said: “They (Trinamool) always talk of democracy but lose cases whenever they go to court. It happened with post-poll violence. The court ordered a CBI investigation.”
“I come to hear that Trinamool councillors have been engaged to threaten voters asking them to vote for Mamata Didi only,” the BJP leader said after some TMC supporters raised “Jai Bangla” slogans while he was reaching out to voters earlier in the day.
Patra also came down heavily on the state administration for slapping non-bailable sections against BJP seniors participating in a “peaceful demonstration” over Magrahat. A BJP delegation later lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the “unprovoked aggression” against their party leaders. They alleged that DCP South Akash Megharia broke the “peaceful procession” and “physically started to drag, push BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar”. The BJP also complained that Tibrewal was “molested” and “inappropriately manhandled” by the police.
BJP Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh, against whom police brought a non-bailable charge, said on Friday he would lodge a complaint with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against the DCP South for breaching his privileges.