Once CPM’s, now TMC’s: Party office throws up relief stuff

Kolkata: A row erupted on the city’s southern fringes on Friday after political workers, locals and police recovered a hoard of govt-marked disaster relief materials and public distribution supplies, allegedly illegally stockpiled inside a local Trinamool office in the Panchasayar area. The premises are currently at the centre of a bitter territorial dispute between Trinamool and CPM.

According to police sources, the seized items include a cache of oxygen cylinders, domestic stoves, tarpaulins, heavy-duty relief tents, and official civic infrastructure buckets stamped with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) insignia. A bundle of official administrative documents was also retrieved from the site.

The flashpoint was earlier this week when local CPM cadres reportedly marched to the property to reclaim it. Party sources said the office served as a CPM base until 2019, before Trinamool workers allegedly seized control of the unit during subsequent election cycles.

Upon reopening the long-locked facility, the Left workers discovered the relief materials stacked floor-to-ceiling, prompting them to alert the neighbours and cops.

As news of the discovery spread, a large crowd of locals gathered at the spot, leading to tension and shouting matches between rival party workers. A heavy deployment from Panchasayar Police Station arrived shortly after to stabilize the area and seize the state property.

Both the local BJP and CPM launched a scathing attack on Trinamool, alleging that the recovery exposes institutional corruption where public distribution goods meant for impoverished citizens and natural disaster victims were systematically siphoned. Locals demanded an immediate, transparent investigation into how restricted municipal property wound up inside an active party office.

Local Trinamool representatives dismissed the claims.