This Sonarpur incident honestly looks like one more ugly political flashpoint in West Bengal . Abhishek Banerjee,the general secretary of the Trinamool Congress and a Lok Sabha MP,went there on Saturday,but instead of normal political visit,things turned hostile very fast.
He had gone to support party worker Sanju Karmakar,who had reportedly been victim of post-poll violence after recent elections . But as soon as Banerjee reached,hostile crowd confronted him and accused him of being a "thief" . Not small thing ah,especially when situation is already politically charged.
And then whole scene escalated badly . His vehicle was surrounded and protesters allegedly started throwing eggs and stones at him . After being hit by eggs,Banerjee reportedly wore cricket helmet to protect himself from more projectiles.
He later blamed BJP-backed people for attack and said,"This was handiwork of the Bharatiya Janata Party-backed goons. Is democracy at all prevailing in West Bengal?" He also expressed anger over alleged lack of police presence during incident .
Few things standing out clearly here:
- Banerjee was visiting Sonarpur in West Bengal on Saturday to support Sanju Karmakar .
- Crowd accused him of being a "thief" and eggs and stones were hurled at him.
- Banerjee plans to approach Calcutta High Court and inform West Bengal Governor,R.N. Ravi.
And tbh,this is where matter becomes more tense politically . Banerjee’s visit came shortly after he received notice from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for interrogation at his residence in South Kolkata . So he is facing street-level anger on one side and legal pressure on other side.
This was also his first public engagement since assembly election results were announced on May 4 . After being homebound due to political climate,his first outing itself turning into this kind of confrontation says lot about mood on ground .
But violence in politics,whoever is targeted,should worry everyone . Protest is one thing,but surrounding vehicle,throwing eggs and stones,and forcing leader to wear cricket helmet is another level only.
And now question is what happens next . Will state government act strongly,will court route change anything,or will this become just another political blame-game in West Bengal…
