Violence at Amit Shah’s Kolkata rally: stones pelted, vehicles burnt, college premises vandalised

There were clashes and huge chaos in Kolkata’s College Street area in connection with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah’s mega rally and road show on Tuesday evening.

As the rally was passing by, some students of Vidyasagar College stood with black flags and shouted slogans, “Amit Shah go back”. BJP supporters from the rally started pelting stones at them along with lathis, rods and pushed police guard rails. Police stopped many of them, but there was chaos all over. Some of the attackers then entered the college premises and started vandalising inside. Motorcycles were set on fire and a bust of social reformer and educationist Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was vandalised.

Police tried to contain the violence but there were clashes still which left some injured. Some people have been arrested according to the police. BJP leaders said that those showing black flags were from the Trinamool Congress and they were behind the violence. Trinamool Congress denied this and said this was a planned attack on the students and the institution.

State education minister Partha Chattopadhyay visited the college premises in the evening.

Before the road show started, the BJP leaders from Bengal had argument with the Kolkata Police authorities over permission. Apparently, the BJP had taken permission for the road show but not for setting up a stage on the road. Police said this could not be allowed. Also, posters and cut-outs had been attached to buildings that had to be taken off following the model code of conduct. Political posters are not allowed to be attached to government buildings.

The road show, a spectacle of sorts, was full of people dressed in saffron. Some were dressed as Hanuman, and all of them chanted “Jai Shree Ram”, as the rally started from the Esplanade area at around 4.30 pm. A huge amount of flowers had been used for the rally, with the streets of Kolkata filled with petals of marigold.

Shah attacked Banerjee in his speech and said that the Trinamool Congress rule was coming to an end in Bengal. However, things did not turn out so well in the end, with visuals of saffron-clad men pelting stones and burning two-wheelers seen in several visuals.