West Bengal communal riots: Oppn leaders stopped from visiting Basirhat, BJP demands President's Rule

Kolkata: Leaders from various parties on Friday slammed the TMC government for preventing them from visiting riot-hit Basirhat with the BJP politicos saying they would meet the governor on Saturday to demand President’s Rule in West Bengal. “We wanted to go and meet the people there to restore peace, but the TMC government did not allow our leaders. The state government does not want the cooperation of opposition parties,” state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said. [caption id=“attachment_3778051” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] He said the BJP would organise a rally in Kolkata on Saturday to condemn the role of the state government. “We will also meet Governor KN Tripathi and demand in writing the imposition of President’s Rule in the state,” he said. He said the state government should take the help of the Centre to restore law and order in Basirhat and alleged that ‘jehadi’ elements were fomenting trouble there. The state BJP chief claimed one person was killed in the riot and demanded that the state government give a compensation of Rs 10 lakh and a job to the family of the victim. TMC leader and minister Jyotipriya Mullick said that the state administration was trying to restore peace and all should cooperate when the chief minister has appealed for it. “Why are the opposition parties in a hurry? They can go there later,” he said. State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury, who was also stopped from visiting Basirhat, said, “The main intention of our visit was to tell the people there to live together in peace”. CPM MP Mohammed Salim, who too was stopped from visiting Basirhat with a left delegation, alleged the police has failed to control the riots. “They are stopping peace lovers and not those fomenting riots,” he alleged and said “instead of controlling riots, the chief minister was busy quarrelling with the governor.”