Bloodstained faces and shattered windscreens marked a tense afternoon in Nagrakata, Jalpaiguri, on Monday when BJP parliamentarian Khagen Murmu and MLA Shankar Ghosh were assaulted during a visit to flood-affected areas.
According to eyewitnesses, Murmu suffered a head injury, with blood streaming from his nose, while Ghosh sustained minor wounds and his clothes were torn. Their vehicle’s windshield was smashed during the chaos. Both leaders were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Police personnel reached the spot soon after the incident, but the violence quickly spilled into political territory. BJP leaders alleged that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) orchestrated the attack to prevent opposition members from assisting flood victims.
Sources said the assailants pelted stones and attacked with bamboo sticks and iron rods, leaving both leaders injured and their car badly damaged.
Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, squarely blamed the Chief Minister. “Mamata Banerjee has realised (quite late) that the people of West Bengal have despised her inhuman act of dancing at a carnival with celebrities while North Bengal was reeling under floods. In contrast, BJP MLAs and MPs were on the ground helping the affected people. So, she has now pressed the panic button and has now unleashed her goons belonging from the ‘Special Community’ and incited them to attack the BJP MPs and MLAs so that they can be refrained from engaging in relief work,” Adhikari said in a post on X.
Also read: North Bengal floods: Toll rises to 28, wildlife, tourism hit hard
He alleged that Khagen Murmu was “brutally attacked and left with bloody injuries” while Ghosh’s vehicle was damaged “in the presence of police”. “Khagen’s head was cracked open, blood started gushing out,” said MLA Ghosh.
"It was a planned attempt to kill us. We narrowly escaped thanks to our driver’s quick action," he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s IT cell head, Amit Malviya, accused the ruling party of encouraging lawlessness. “TMC’s Jungle Raj in Bengal! BJP MP Khagen Murmu, a respected tribal leader and two-time MP from North Malda, was attacked by TMC goons while on his way to Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri’s Dooars region to help with relief and rescue efforts after devastating rains, floods, and landslides,” he said.
Malviya contrasted Banerjee’s presence at the Kolkata Carnival with what he called the absence of the state administration from relief work. “While Mamata Banerjee dances at her Kolkata Carnival, the TMC and state administration are missing in action. Those actually helping the people, BJP leaders and karyakartas, are being attacked for doing relief work. This is TMC’s Bengal, where cruelty rules and compassion is punished,” he added.
Former BJP state president Dilip Ghosh remarked, ‘The Chief Minister is busy with the carnival while people in the north are suffering. Even those trying to help are being attacked. The rule of law no longer exists in Bengal, it’s clear again.’
BJP state president Shamik Bhattacharya, who was in North Bengal, left for the hospital from Siliguri airport immediately after learning of the assault.”
Meanwhile, North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha countered that the BJP was deflecting its failures, saying, ‘Our party has nothing to do with this. They have failed as MPs and MLAs, which is why people are angry.’
The BJP’s central leadership in Delhi has sought a detailed report from the state unit on both the attack and the flood situation.
The attacks unfolded against the backdrop of heavy rains, floods and landslides that have battered North Bengal, leaving 28 dead and thousands in distress.
Follow us
