india

Updated: May 26, 2019 22:10 IST

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mukul Roy, who played a crucial role in the party’s victory in Bengal, said on Sunday that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was only trying to grab headlines by talking of quitting as chief minister the day before.

“It was a drama. Trinamool Congress (TMC) is all about Banerjee. Others don’t matter. It was like Banerjee talking of quitting and she herself not accepting it and then finally announcing it before the media. She will not quit till voters show her the door. She can’t live without power,” Roy, who was once Banerjee’s second-in-command, said.

“TMC was formed only to oppose the Communist Party of India (Marxist). It has served its purpose. Regional parties are losing relevance, if you go by Lok Sabha results across India,” Roy said.

On Sunday, police arrested Bharat Biswas, a pool car driver, in connection with the murder of Santu Ghosh at Chakdah in Nadia district on Friday night. While the main suspect Laltu Das could not be traced, at least 35 people were injured in political clashes across Bengal since Saturday night.

Violence was reported in the districts of Birbhum, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, West Midnapore and South 24 Parganas. Several party offices of the TMC were taken over by BJP workers. Mukul Roy said his party does not support such activities.

Two state ministers also got into trouble on Sunday. North Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh was allegedly heckled at Dinhata where he went to vacate a local TMC office that BJP workers forcefully captured after the party won the Cooch Behar seat. BJP workers also heckled forest minister Binay Krishna Barman at Ghokshadanga in Cooch Behar and threw stones at his car.

Five men were injured when TMC and BJP supporters clashed at Gopinathpur and Kharar areas in West Midnapore on Sunday morning. A TMC office was ransacked at Gopinathpur, alleged party leader Shankar Dolui. A TMC worker was also injured in the districts’ Narayangarh area but local BJP leader Antara Bhattacharya said her party was not involved in the incidents.

At Panskura in East Midnapore, TMC leader Nandakumar Mishra alleged that a party office was set on fire by BJP workers on Saturday night. Pintu Senapati, BJP leader in Panskura claimed the arson had resulted from infighting in TMC.

At Gopalpur in Birbhum, 10 men were injured in a clash. The violence took place when villagers raided the home of local TMC leader Buddhadeb Kaibarta who allegedly controlled allotment of jobs under the 100-day employment scheme.

Five BJP supporters were injured at Kanksa in West Burdwan. At Paharpur in Jalpaiguri, three men were injured and TMC accused BJP for the attack. Five more were injured at Deocharai in Toofanganj area. At Surkabari in Cooch Behar, BJP claimed that their local leader Mohammed Ali was attacked by the TMC.

Clashes took place at Jibantala in South 24 Parganas and Gangarampur in South Dinajpur. A panchayat member and four TMC workers were injured at Sandeshkhali and Basirhat in North 24 Parganas.