New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) West Bengal’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday alleged that the purported attack on Trinamool Congress leader Madan Mitra in the North 24 Parganas district was “staged by his own men” so that he could claim security cover.

Protesters allegedly hurled eggs and vandalised Mitra’s car during his visit to the Kamarhati constituency in the district on Saturday, forcing him to leave the area. The Trinamool leader was reportedly not in the vehicle during the attack. He later blamed “BJP-backed miscreants” for the incidents.

Reacting to the incident, Bengal Minister Arjun Singh said: “He (Mitra) got his own people to attack his car so that he could get security cover, nothing else.”

“Anwar is the frontman of Madan Mitra, who also has Shahbaz in front. He (Mitra) did everything to increase his security,” he told reporters.

BJP MLA Pawan Singh appealed to people to refrain from resorting to violence, saying: “Whatever happened in the Trinamool Congress regime should not repeat under the BJP government.”

Interacting with reporters, he said: “People have voted us to power with a lot of hope, but there are certain sections of people who endured torture during the Trinamool’s regime and are now taking out their frustration in some way or the other. That is why such things are taking place.”

He said that BJP workers in the state are being told that if they too have endured any kind of atrocities during the previous government, they should approach the police and not take the law into their own hands.

The BJP MLA refuted Mitra’s allegations that attempts have been made to murder him. “He will make some or the other allegations, there’s no truth in all this.”

Taking a swipe at Mitra, he said: “If somebody does want to kill him, he (Mitra) won’t be told beforehand.”

However, Singh reiterated that people’s anger and frustration are now coming out on those Trinamool leaders who “harassed” people in some way or the other. “It is human nature,” he said.

CPI-M leader Hannan Mollah also echoed a similar view, saying such incidents of Trinamool leaders coming under attack may continue because these people generated a “politics of hatred and a politics of violence” during their regime.

“Trinamool had been in power for 15 years. During this period, hundreds of people were killed, thousands were beaten, houses were attacked and burned, and money was allegedly looted through different channels like elections, education, recruitment, etc,” Mollah told IANS.

“They (Trinamool) earned crores of rupees, and everyone is calling them ‘chor’ (thief) because they believe the state has been looted over the last 15 years.”

However, the CPI-M leader asserted that nobody should be attacked. “Even a criminal should not be attacked. A criminal should be tried and punished by a court of law. I condemn any attempt to attack any political leader,” he said.

–IANS

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