“Cross the line, and Sitalkuchi killings will be repeated across Bengal”: Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh

West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Dilip Ghosh on Sunday said that if anyone dares to cross the line, Sitalkuchi will be repeated across the state. He was referring to the incident on Saturday during polling in the fourth phase of elections – when the Central forces on duty at booth number 126 in Sitalkuchi constituency of Cooch Behar district opened fire in which four persons died and several were injured. At least one person received a bullet injury. Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has termed the killing as “genocide”.

Ghosh on Sunday, said at a public rally (organised in support of BJP candidate Parno Mitra), that “this is just the start”. “Beware! Don’t cross the line. Some dushtu chhele (naughty boys) were shot at in Sitalkuchi. These naughty boys won’t stay in Bengal anymore. On April 17 (the next phase of election), the Central forces will continue to be on duty. If anyone crosses the line, then there will be a repeat of Sitalkuchi,” Ghosh said.

The BJP’s Bengal chief added that the “Central forces have not come to Bengal to casually visit the state to display their firearms. They are actually using the firearms. And those who have doubted it have felt the heat of these firearms. If anyone crosses the line, it will be repeated.”

The comments made by Dilip Ghosh led to a string of reactions, especially among the leaders of Bengal’s ruling party, the Trinamool Congress. Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee said at a rally that while “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is talking about condolences, the party’s Bengal chief is threatening the repeat of Sitalkuchi. I ask the Prime Minister to remove Dilip Ghosh from the post of the Bengal BJP chief if he is to prove that he is Prime Minister of the entire country and not just a BJP leader”.

CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty, reacting to Ghosh’s comments, said that both Dilip Ghosh and his party are fascists.