Videos and reports emerged of Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers coming under attack after the BJP won the West Bengal Assembly election on May 4. Three people have died in the violence as TMC offices and cadres were targeted. TMC leaders claimed that the attackers were BJP workers. However, the BJP brought a twist to the tale, alleging that its TMC members were targeting others of the party. The charge—TMC workers are trying to prove they are BJP members. The BJP, meanwhile, has shut its doors to the flood of TMC cadres trying to switch to the saffron party.
According to an assessment by India Today Digital, poll-related violence in the form of murder, attacks, vandalism and arson took place in at least a dozen places in West Bengal on the day of counting on May 4, and on May 5.
The violence, which has resulted in at least three deaths in Kolkata, Birbhum and North 24 Parganas, came even as BJP leaders like MLA Arjun Singh and State President, Samik Bhattacharya urged party workers to refrain from violence and maintain law and order.
TRINAMOOL CADRES TURN ON EACH OTHER TO DISPLAY LOYALTY TO THE BJP
The BJP is claiming that the attacks on TMC members were being carried out by none other than opportunistic cadres of the party who are eager to display their newfound loyalty to the BJP.
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya recounted an incident he said was relayed to him by former state chief and Kharagpur Sadar MLA Dilip Ghosh.
According to Bhattacharya, Ghosh said his TMC rival, Pradip Ghosh, called him seeking help late on counting day, claiming his office was under attack. When asked who the attackers were, Pradip allegedly said they were being led by a known TMC face from the area, Bhattacharya added.
Similarly, after BJP MP Saumitra Khan was asked about post-poll violence in the state, he replied, “Some people who were in the TMC in the morning, crossed over to the BJP by the evening, and to prove their loyalty to the BJP, they started doing all this. Give us 2-4 more hours and we will make everything right… Our party leadership has instructed the police to act against these miscreants in the strictest way,” reported news agency PTI on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, TMC leader Riju Dutta posted a video on X on Wednesday, where he alleged that on the evening of May 4, local TMC cadre had started declaring themselves members of the BJP en masse, and posting “Jay Sri Ram” on their Facebook accounts. He also alleged that many of those former TMC workers had turned up in front of his house that night in an “inebriated state” and hurled threats and curses at him and his family.
Dutta also alleged that when he started calling around for help, “BJP leaders picked up on the second ring”, and that safron leaders in both the state and New Delhi had assured him no harm would come even if he continued to canvass for the TMC, and promised him that “if you any face any problem, call us, we will help”.
That TMC cadres have what can be best described as a penchant for engaging in post-poll violence is well known. The Hindu had reported that the Trinamool was responsible for 65% of all post-poll violence in West Bengal in the last decade. But this marks the first time that Trinamool cadres are turning their violence inwards, following their party’s rout in the Assembly polls.
BJP SHUTS DOOR ON TRINAMOOL ENTRANTS
With TMC cadres purportedly attempting to switch to the BJP and attacking each other to prove their loyalty, the winning party in West Bengal is responding by restricting membership for new entrants.
In a post on X, BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar announced on Wednesday that no single person could declare themselves a member of the party until and unless they were formally inducted. He later addressed a press conferrence stating the same, “No individual can become a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party through self-declaration.”
He added, “Those associated with the TMC who have been involved in atrocities, unlawful activities, or intimidation cannot seek refuge in the BJP to escape accountability,” and that “BJP stands for a clean and transparent Bengal. No criminal or anti-social element will be allowed to enter the party under any circumstance.”
In a separate statement on X by BJP West Bengal on Wednesday, the party stated that, “it has come to our notice that elements of the Trinamool’s so-called ‘Gunda Vahini’ are attempting to impersonate BJP workers to mislead people and create disorder.”
It also stated that the BJP will not tolerate any such deception and warned that the “full force of the law will be brought to bear against these criminal elements”, refering to those allegedly engaging in impersonation and intimidation.
There have been reports of BJP supporters being threatened and attacked by TMC members too.
“We voted for BJP, so yesterday late night, 40-50 Trinamool miscreants came and vandalised our house and beat us. After getting information from the police, the police and the central forces came to the spot. I am very scared,” Madan Morol from North 24 Parganas told ANI.
The violence against TMC members, however, seems to reflect local factions turning on each other in a bid to signal political realignment and avoid retribution.
In West Bengal, post-poll violence is the norm. But the BJP is alleging that its landslide victory has triggered a scramble among Trinamool members to show that they are the saffron party’s members. It has blamed the violence on internecine attacks, and closed its doors to TMC opportunists. The BJP is alleging that what is unfolding is less a case of victors’ vengeance and more a breakdown of internal cohesion within a party grappling with a decisive electoral defeat.
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