Bengal BJP organises state-wide thana gherao to protest alleged killing of “party worker”, deteriorating law & order situation

The West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday took out rallies across the state to protest the alleged killing of a “party worker” in Gayeshpur of Nadia district on Sunday. The rallies were also against the “overall deteriorating law and order situation” in the state.

On Sunday, the body of Bijoy Sil (34) was found hanging from a tree in Gayeshpur of Nadia. BJP leaders claimed that Sil was a party worker, though his family members said he was not involved in the work of any political party. They said that he had been murdered. The Trinamool Congress leadership has denied the allegation that he was murdered. They referred to the fact that the family itself had been vocal about his lack of involvement in any party work.

However, a 12-hour bandh was called in Kalyani subdivision of Nadia district by the BJP on Monday. Rallies were also organised by the BJP across the state outside various police stations, including in Kolkata.

The rallies were taken out in Sonarpur, Asansol, Habra, Howrah, Bidhannagar, Kolkata’s Kalighat, Bhawanipur, Shyampukur, Behala among other places. In Howrah, BJP leader Soumitra Khan, who led the protests said that since Durga Puja, six of their party workers had been killed by the Trinamool Congress. Calling these deaths “political killings”, Khan said that the law and order situation is in a shambles in Bengal.

Ahead of the visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah – who is coming to West Bengal for a two-day visit on November 5 and 6 – this programme of the BJP is being seen as an opportunity to increase the pitch for the party’s protests against the Trinamool Congress on an alleged breakdown of law and order. The BJP is making every attempt at increasing its protests to a fever pitch ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls in the state.