Kolkata | Scores of people hurled stones, eggs and abuses at TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who escaped the mob wearing a cricket helmet and helped by aides on Saturday in Sonarpur town of West Bengal.
Banerjee was attacked when he went to visit the victims of post-poll violence, and later claimed that BJP activists were trying to kill him.
In a dramatic and unprecedented outburst of public anger, unidentified people scuffled with the leader and roughed him up while raising chants of "thief, thief".
The situation quickly spiralled into chaos, with some members of the crowd reportedly attempting to physically attack Banerjee by raining blows and kicks on him, prompting swift intervention by security personnel.
Television footage from the scene captured the intensity of the confrontation, showing a visibly shaken Banerjee being escorted through the area under heavy personal security and local TMC workers.
Wearing a police-issued helmet for protection, the TMC leader was seen with his shirt torn amid the melee, underscoring the volatile nature of the incident.
The attack, led mostly by local women at the Kamrabad area falling under Ward 9 of Rajpur-Sonarpur municipality, was, allegedly an explosion of the pent-up anger accrued on account of years of "torture perpetrated by TMC-run syndicates and extortion rackets" and abject lack of governance leading to broken roads, clogged drains and poor drinking water supply.
Banerjee's alleged "veiled threats" during his pre-election campaigns also led to the violent repercussions, locals claimed.
Banerjee, who was trying to enter the area pillion riding on a motorcycle, was forced to disembark from the vehicle when agitated locals gathered around it, shouting slogans and pelting shoes and eggs at him.
Despite the resistance, the MP chose to reach his destination, about a kilometre away, on foot, when the situation turned even more chaotic with hundreds of agitated locals trying to block his move with violent means.
"They wanted to kill me. The whole incident has been captured on camera. We will definitely let the high court know about this. We will also let the governor know about this. I will definitely move court," Banerjee said while meeting the kin of Sanju Karmakar, who allegedly died in post-poll violence.
"It's all BJP-sponsored. Look what they have done. This is their example of democracy. It hasn't even been a month, and the police are nowhere to be seen. My head was somehow spared; fortunately, I was wearing a helmet. They have torn my clothes and broken my spectacles," he alleged.
Claiming there was no police presence at the spot when he was attacked, said he won't leave the area until police arrive.
"I will not abandon Sanju's elderly parents in this condition until additional forces arrive. I will once again ask our workers to contact the police," he said.
Local women, holding broomsticks and bamboo sticks, gathered outside the house of the TMC party worker Banerjee visited.
Questioning the purpose of his visit, they raised slogans against Banerjee.
"Why has he come here? The person whose house he has come to visit is also a thief. It is like a thief visiting another thief," one of the protesting women alleged.
"Where was he (Abhishek) when the Abhaya incident (RG Kar rape and murder) happened? How many times had he gone to meet the parents of Abhaya? We want an answer from him," another protesting woman said.
Another protestor said that Banerjee "had it coming" since the day he issued "veiled threats" from pre-election rallies.
"He had said from campaign stages that he would play DJ music from May 4 after results were declared and no father-figure from Delhi would come to protect us. That's why we have gathered here today to pay him back in his own coin," he said.
A large contingent of district police from the local Sonarpur PS, accompanied by armed central forces, later reached the spot.
They escorted the TMC leader out of the spot, even as women were seen standing on rooftops and chanting slogans against Banerjee.
Reacting sharply to the development, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee pointed fingers at the BJP.
"RULERS BECAME KILLERS- shame on you BJP!" she wrote on X.
Meanwhile, BJP West Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya said the incident could be the outcome of the anger of locals who were "tortured" over the years.
"The BJP is not involved in such activities. What has happened is not expected in a democracy," Bhattacharya told reporters.
"I will not be able to say why police were not there; it is a matter of the administration. I am from the party. What the TMC has done to our party workers all these years cannot be described. We still remember what they did to Rupa Ganguly, to our leaders in South 24 Parganas district. Today, because we are restrained, that is why the TMC is still there," he added.
Meanwhile, a large team of central forces, along with personnel from Sonarpur police station, reached the spot to bring the situation under control and escort Banerjee out, a senior police officer said.
New Delhi | The Congress on Saturday strongly condemned the "attack" on TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee in West Bengal's Sonarpur and said the deliberate lack of adequate police protection for a prominent opposition leader speaks volumes about the BJP's politics of "vendetta and persecution".
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was roughed up on Saturday, allegedly by locals, when he visited Sonarpur to meet families of post-poll violence victims, police said.
Stones, shoes and eggs were hurled at the MP by unidentified people, who even attempted to rain blows and kicks on him while shouting "thief, thief".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Strongly condemn the shocking attack on MP Shri Abhishek Banerjee in Sonarpur, as he went to meet the families affected by post-poll violence in the state."
"The deliberate lack of adequate police protection for a prominent Opposition leader speaks volumes about the BJP's politics of vendetta and persecution," the Congress president said.
Union and West Bengal governments must ensure security for all opposition leaders and take immediate steps to prevent such attacks, Kharge said on X.
Political differences can never justify any kind of violence, he asserted.
Television visuals from the spot showed Banerjee being escorted out of the area wearing a helmet, with his shirt torn during the commotion.
"Look what they have done to me. This was pre-planned. There is no police in the area. They want to kill me. I will not leave this place till police send their force and offer protection to the victims' families," Banerjee said while meeting the kin of a post-poll violence victim.
Local women, holding broomsticks and bamboo sticks, gathered outside the house of the TMC party worker where Banerjee visited. Questioning the purpose of his visit, they raised slogans against the MP.
BJP West Bengal president Samik Bhattacharya said the incident could be the outcome of the anger of locals who were "tortured" over the years.
