TMC vs BJP over Ram Navami violence in Howrah

Trinamool Congress and opposition BJP traded accusations over the violence on Ram Navami in West Bengal’s Howrah, with the ruling party accusing the saffron camp of disrupting the peace and harmony in the state. The BJP hit back with serious allegations, saying chief minister Mamata Banerjee had “orchestrated” the whole incident for “Muslim votes”.

Both parties shared videos as evidence of the violence on Twitter – the TMC showing clips of people in the Ram Navami procession holding guns and other weapons, and the BJP releasing a video of some men vandalising shops and hurling stones at Rapid Action Force (RAF) and police.

At a press conference on Friday, TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee went so far as to say the BJP had “pre-planned” the violence in Howrah to “spoil the atmosphere and create enmity among people”.

“Howrah violence was pre-planned. From Shyambazar, a BJP leader was asking people to keep their eyes on the television screens. Why? Just a day before, that leader met with the home minister,” Abhishek said, claiming that there were intelligence inputs suggesting that the violence was a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the BJP.

“Why did such an incident take place during Ram Navami?” asked the Diamond Harbour MP. He also claimed that Ram Navami clashes had never taken place in the state from 2011 when the TMC came to power to 2014, and started since 2015-16 when the BJP got a toehold in the state’s politics.

“Who has imported this culture to Bengal? What does Lord Rama have to do with a pistol?” he asked.

“BJP’s dangabaji formula at work again. Provoke and instigate communities against each other. Supply weapons to incite violence. Create communal tension deliberately. Reap political benefits. A classic unholy blueprint right out of the @BJP4India playbook!” he tweeted.

Slamming the state government, leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari called the chief minister “useless” and demanded her resignation.

“Police (home) minister (Mamata Banerjee) is useless. Her resignation is the only solution. I sent a letter to the union home minister and governor yesterday (Thursday). Today, I approached the high court… The court should step forward,” Adhikari said in a press meet, alleging appeasement politics of the TMC government that had failed to rein in “anti-national forces”.

According to a report published by news agency ANI, Adhikari also called police “silent spectators”. “Police is not doing their work. They are silent spectators. All the houses of Hindus have been vandalised. All Hindus in the Kazipara area had to flee for their lives,” he told ANI.

He also claimed that the police commissioner had refused to meet him. Asked about the video shared by the TMC, Adhikari said, “BJP activists never believe in carrying weapons, including firearms in public, unlike the Trinamool Congress. Let the TMC provide evidence about the participation of our activists with firearms in the procession. We will take action against him.”

State BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar accused Mamata of orchestrating the violence in Howrah to “retain Muslim votes” and said he, too, had written to union home minister Amit Shah – who later took stock of the situation and spoke to governor CV Ananda Bose. Majumdar also demanded an NIA inquiry into the violence in Howrah.