Bengal: TMC plans protest after clashes as Malda arrest sharpens poll tensions

Political tensions intensified across West Bengal on Friday as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) announced a protest meeting at Kalighat in Kolkata following clashes in Bhabanipur, while the arrest of an AIMIM worker in connection with unrest in Malda added a fresh flashpoint to an already heated election atmosphere.

The TMC is set to hold a protest meeting at 6.00 pm on Saturday, 4 April at Kalighat crossing, a key junction of Kalighat Road, Harish Chatterjee Street and Hazra Road, close to chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence. Party leaders said the gathering was called to counter what they described as a “malicious attempt to create disorder” in Bhabanipur during Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s nomination filing.

The programme, called by Trinamool Congress block no. 73, is expected to be attended by TMC state president Subrata Bakshi, Rashbehari MLA Debashis Kumar, mayor-in-council members Sandip Ranjan Bakshi and Baishwanor Chatterjee, along with other leaders. The invitation, issued by corporator Kajari Banerjee and Jai Hind Bahini president Kartik Banerjee, has urged party workers and local residents to join in large numbers.

Tensions escalated on Thursday when Adhikari filed his nomination papers as the BJP candidate from Bhabanipur, a constituency closely associated with Mamata Banerjee. Amit Shah joined the roadshow, turning the event into a major political show of strength for the BJP. Shah said, “I told Suvendu to defeat Mamata in her house,” underlining the party’s attempt to challenge the chief minister on her home turf.

The roadshow, however, witnessed confrontations as supporters of rival parties exchanged slogans near Banerjee’s residence. Scuffles broke out, prompting police intervention. FIRs were later registered and the Election Commission sought reports from officials on the ground.

TMC leaders accused the BJP of deliberately provoking unrest in a sensitive neighbourhood. Party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said Bhabanipur would not be allowed to become a stage for “showmanship and disorder”, adding that local residents had been left anxious by the developments.

The Election Commission also took a serious view of the incident. Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar reportedly pulled up Kolkata police commissioner Ajay Nand during a review meeting, questioning the handling of security arrangements. “Being an IPS officer, you were unable to manage Kolkata? Do you require further training?” he is learnt to have asked, expressing dissatisfaction over the situation.

Police action has followed. Show-cause notices are being issued to two deputy commissioners, Siddhartha Dutta and Manas Roy, for alleged lapses in security arrangements. Kolkata Police has also registered suo motu FIRs based on complaints filed at Kalighat and Alipore police stations.

The political temperature has been further raised by developments in Malda district, where police arrested advocate Mofakkarul Islam, a former AIMIM candidate, in connection with the gherao of seven judicial officers engaged in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Islam was arrested at Bagdogra airport while allegedly attempting to board a flight to Bengaluru. Police described him as the “mastermind” behind the blockade and gherao at Kaliachak, where judicial officers were confined inside a block office for several hours during protests against alleged deletions from voter lists.

According to ADG (North Bengal) K. Jayaraman, multiple cases have been registered in connection with the violence and several arrests made, including that of an ISF candidate. Authorities said the investigation would continue to determine whether the unrest was spontaneous or pre-planned.

An NIA team has also visited Mothabari and Kaliachak police stations to probe the incident, following directions linked to the Supreme Court’s observations on the disruption of the electoral revision exercise.

Mamata Banerjee has alleged that the BJP, AIMIM and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) were attempting to engineer unrest to influence the election climate. Addressing a rally in Dakshin Dinajpur district, she claimed the BJP had “borrowed” leaders from AIMIM to foment trouble, an allegation rejected by the BJP.

Banerjee also took an indirect swipe at AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, referring to him as the “Hyderabad cuckoo of the BJP” and accusing him of contributing to tensions in the region.

The unrest in Malda began when residents in Mothabari and adjoining areas blocked National Highway-12 to protest against alleged deletions of names from electoral rolls during the SIR exercise. As the protests intensified, seven judicial officers were confined inside the Kaliachak-II block office from late afternoon until close to midnight, before being rescued by police.

With the Kalighat protest set to take place on Saturday evening, political rhetoric around law and order and electoral conduct has intensified across West Bengal. While the TMC maintains that the BJP is attempting to disrupt the campaign atmosphere through aggressive tactics, the BJP has countered that it is highlighting governance failures of the ruling party.

For residents of south Kolkata and parts of north Bengal affected by the unrest, however, the immediate concern remains the same: that the escalating political confrontation does not spill over into further disruption on the ground.