BJP to complain to Election Commission over violent clashes at Kanthi, 11 people arrested

Kolkata: The BJP’s West Bengal leadership has decided to inform the Election Commission (EC) about the clashes that broke out between workers of it and the TMC on Tuesday following a rally of BJP president Amit Shah in East Midnapore district. [caption id=“attachment_5242561” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The police arrested 11 persons for their alleged involvement in the violence. “We will inform the Election commission about the clashes that took place yesterday at Kanthi. We will portray the real picture of the ground situation that prevails in Bengal,” BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said in Kolkata on Wednesday. He claimed that several party workers are yet to return home after the rally. “We don’t know what happened to them. They are missing. This is a dangerous situation,” he said. A TMC party office was ransacked, several workers of both the BJP and the TMC were injured, and vehicles ferrying BJP workers were set on fire in the violence at Kanthi, the parties claimed. Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb, who accompanied Ghosh during the press conference, reminded her West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee that law and order is a state subject and she can’t run away from her responsibilities by putting blame on others. “I can sense a change coming in Bengal. There is a strong under current flowing in Bengal,” he said. The police said they have launched an investigation into the incident and have arrested 11 people. Witnesses were being questioned and the police are also examining television footages of the violence. The BJP Wednesday organized protest rallies in various parts of the state against the violence at Kanthi, known to be a stronghold of TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari, who is also state transport minister.