Kolkata, March 10 (IANS) A heated exchange broke out between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Siliguri, north Bengal, on Monday night, hours before the BJP’s Parivartan Yatra is scheduled to begin in the region on Tuesday.

The argument took place between Siliguri Sub-Divisional Council president and Trinamool leader Arun Ghosh and BJP MLA from the Matigara-Naxalbari Assembly constituency, Anandamay Barman, over preparations near the venue of the BJP programme.

The dispute, initially centred on the putting up of party flags and other preparations, soon escalated into a political exchange over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and development works in the area.

The police from the Naxalbari police station reached the spot after receiving information about the altercation and brought the situation under control. However, due to the tension in the area, the central forces conducted a route march. Police pickets have also been set up to prevent any further unrest.

The BJP’s Parivartan Yatra is scheduled to start in Siliguri from Tuesday. The yatra will reach Naxalbari by afternoon via the Siliguri-Matigara route. BJP’s Mahila Morcha leader Rupa Gangopadhyay, Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, Jalpaiguri MP Jayanta Roy, MLAs Shikha Chatterjee, Shankar Ghosh, Anandamay Barman, Durga Murmu and other local BJP leaders will be present in the yatra. A meeting has also been organised at the Naxalbari bus stand.

As part of preparations for the meeting, BJP workers were putting up party flags in the bus stand area on Monday night. Local BJP MLA Anandamay Barman went to check the preparations. Trinamool leader and Siliguri Subdistrict Council president, Arun Ghosh, lives in the same area. A meeting of the Trinamool Congress is also scheduled to be held at the same place two days later. As a result, Trinamool Congress workers also started putting up their party flags, leading to confrontation between the two sides.

Anandamay Barman complained that Trinamool Congress workers were conspiring to remove the BJP flag and put up the ruling party’s flag near the meeting venue, a charge Trinamool’s Arun Ghosh denied.

“The BJP has not done any development in the area. Mamata Banerjee has done all the development. If you ask people here, everyone will say the same thing. After SIR, many names have been deleted from the voters’ list. People will not vote for the BJP here this time,” Arun Ghosh said.

Responding to the remark, Anandamay Barman said, “The final answer will come when the Hindu votes are counted after the Assembly polls. First show, how you will win from here.”

MLA Anandamay Barman on Tuesday morning said, “The Trinamool Congress was planning to sabotage our meeting. They are scared of the public response to our meeting and the Parivartan Yatra. That’s why they are creating trouble here.”

Arun Ghosh rejected the allegation, saying, “They have not done a single thing in the area despite having an MLA. Voters’ names are being deleted from the SIR. No one from our party has removed a BJP flag. We were putting up our own flags, as we also have a meeting here in a few days.”

–IANS

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