The Bharatiya Janata Party's West Bengal unit on Wednesday held a massive rally in Kolkata to protest against the killing of its party workers in the post-poll violence. The saffron party workers, along with its newly elected 18 MPs, were marching towards the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar from the Wellington area. However, at central avenue, police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters.
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The BJP protests, which came amid the government doctors' strike in the state, turned Kolkata into a war zone. Over 50 party workers were injured, while a few seniors leaders fell sick after inhaling the tear gas. The VIP road in the city was jammed as a result of the protests.
The doctors' strike that began after a few junior doctors were beaten up owing to a patient's death in a Kolkata hospital on June 11 did take its toll on the saffron agitation. Since no government hospital was working, several of the injured BJP workers could not be hospitalised there. They had to be rushed to private hospitals, which led the party to call off the agitation mid way.
More than 100 protesters were arrested for alleged violation of law and attacking police. Later, senior leaders like Kailash Vijayvargava, Mukul Roy and S.S. Alhuwalia sat on a dharna protesting the police lathicharge.
Police use water canon against BJP workers during a protest in Kolkata | Salil Bera
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said there was no reason for the police to “attack” the BJP workers as his party had no plan to turn their protest into an aggressive agitation.
Ghosh said, "It's too much disturbing for me to garland my dead party worker every day. Situation has gone to such an extreme that this government has no right to stay in power."
According to the BJP, 15 of its workers had been killed so far after the results of the Lok Sabha elections were declared on May 23. Violence erupted all over the state after BJP's impressive performance in the elections, winning 18 seats—just for less than that of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
The BJP has been blaming the the ruling party and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the unabated violence.
Governor K.N. Tripathy has called all four major parties—the TMC, the BJP, the Congress and the CPI(M)—for a meeting on Thursday after coming back from Delhi on Wednesday.
