Amit Shah’s massive roadshow in Kolkata was marked by violence towards the end when clashes erupted between supporters of BJP and Trinamool Congress.
The BJP president had done a roadshow in Kolkata ahead of the last of the phase of Lok Sabha election, which had turned Kolkata saffron due to the participation of people in large numbers. The roadshow started near Esplanade, and it went on relatively peacefully and headed towards the residence of Swami Vivekananda. Before the roadshow, the police and TMC workers had removed BJP posters, banners and flags from the city, and Amit Shah was denied permission to hold an election rally.
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When the roadshow reached near Kolkata University, it was shown black flags by some people, and anti-Modi slogans were chanted. ‘Go back Amit Shah’ was also chanted by university students and TMC workers. This triggered a clash between BJP workers and people present in the area. When the roadshow neared the Vidyasagar College, the clashes intensified after stones and bricks were thrown at the roadshow from the campus, and sticks were also thrown at the truck of Amit Shah.
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From the videos of the incident, it can be seen that BJP workers also returned stones and bricks towards the college campus, which started a full-blown fight. Several vehicles were torched during the clash, and high tension prevailed on the entire College Street.
Stones were thrown at police personnel also who were trying to control the violence. Several BJP workers were hit by stones thrown at them from inside the Vidyasagar College campus. It is alleged that after that some BJP workers entered the campus and fought with people there. The statue of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in the college campus was also damaged in the clash. The gate of the college and several pieces of furniture were also damaged.
The violence was contained by a huge deployment of police, who brought it under control by using lathicharge.
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Finance minister Arun Jaitley condemned the violence in Amit Shah’s rally, saying “the attack on Amit Shah’s peaceful rally by the TMC is deplorable” in a tweet. While Mamata Banerjee alleged that BJP bought goons from outside the state to do hooliganism.
The election in West Bengal has been marked with large scale violence and electoral malpractices by the ruling party in the state. Several BJP leaders and workers have been attacked by TMC goons, including state party president Dilip Ghosh and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The social media is filled with videos from polling booths from the state showing TMC workers voting on behalf of genuine voters, right in front of election officials and security personnel.