Kolkata, May 7 (IANS) Hasi Rani Rath, the mother of Chandranath Rath, who served as the personal assistant to Suvendu Adhikari for many years, claimed on Thursday that her son bore the consequences of his significant contribution to Adhikari’s victory over the outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in South Kolkata during the recently held West Bengal Assembly elections.

She also said that provocative and vindictive statements given by the Trinamool Congress leaders during their pre-election campaign rallies were also a fueling factor behind the tragic end of her son, who was shot dead at Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday night.

Besides being a personal assistant to Adhikari, Rath was also one of the important members of Adhikari’s core team handling his campaign affairs in Bhabanipur.

“My son was in charge of campaigns for both Bhabanipur and Nandigram, where the outgoing Leader of Opposition contested and got elected simultaneously. Probably that is why my son became a target, especially because of the defeat of Mamata Banerjee from Bhabanipur,” Rath’s mother told media persons on Thursday afternoon.

According to her, even after such a thumping victory in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly polls, the BJP leaders are constantly asking party workers to show restraint and refrain from taking the law into their own hands. The previous ruling party leaders in their pre-poll rallies constantly threatened dire consequences after the polls.

“That is exactly what they did to my son. My request to the new state government is that they should ensure strict punishments for my son’s killers,” he demanded.

However, despite that, she had not demanded capital punishment for the killers. “I want the guilty to be punished. Since I am a mother of a child, I will not demand that the culprits be hanged. But let there be life imprisonment. I would request the new government that comes in to ensure the guilty people are punished,” she said.

–IANS

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