Urban Mirror Correspondent
New Delhi, May 15: Even as seven- phase Lok Sabha elections enters into last round, which was so far by and large peaceful, the workers of ruling TMC and rival BJP clashed on the streets of Kolkata during the roadshow of BJP national president Amit Shah. There was pitched battle between the two factions with arson and massive property losses. Both sides have accused each other of fomenting violence.
According to information several parts of the city were plunged into violence during arson and stone pelting which started from hostels of Vidasagar College. However the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the clashes erupted following vandalization of the statue of Bengali writer and philosopher Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar by the BJP workers.
Several motorcycles parked outside were vandalised and set ablaze. Shards of broken glass littered the lobby of the college where a bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, a noted philosopher and a key figure of Bengal Renaissance, was smashed to pieces. Police personnel were tried hard to douse the fire with buckets filled with water. Contingents of the Kolkata Police deployed for the roadshow swung into action and were seen chasing away the warring groups. “Trinamool parliamentary team comprising Derek O’Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Manish Gupta, Nadimul Haque seeks meeting with EC in aftermath of attack on Bengal’s heritage after Shah roadshow in Kolkata. BJP outsider ruffians resort to arson & break Vidyasagar’s bust,” the TMC said in a tweet.
However a BJP delegation, including Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, rushed to the EC, seeking its immediate intervention to ensure free and fair polls in the state. Naqvi accused Banerjee of “complicity” in violence allegedly aimed at the BJP, claiming that she has been “provoking” her Trinamool workers to attack the saffron party’s functionaries.
