BJP MPs from West Bengal urged the Centre on Wednesday to use constitutional provisions to intervene in the state, alleging in the Lok Sabha that the deaths of eight people after their houses were set ablaze in Birbhum district show that law and order has collapsed under the rule of Trinamool Congress. As soon as the Zero Hour began, several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs showed placards and raised slogans against the West Bengal government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state unit chief of the BJP, spoke on the matter later. Rebutting the allegations, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said whatever happened in Birbhum had nothing to do with any political fight and noted that around 20 people have been arrested by the state police in connection with the incident.
He asked the BJP not to do politics over the incident and said his party has sought an appointment with Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the matter. Shad met a delegation of BJP MPs from the state on Tuesday. Majumdar said the deaths of so many people as an act of revenge following the killing of a panchayat leader of the TMC have "ashamed" humanity and cited locals to allege that the houses of the victims were set ablaze in the presence of police personnel.
Twenty-six people have been killed in a week in West Bengal as law and order has collapsed in the state, he said. Political violence had also exploded in the state following the TMC's victory in the May, 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP leader alleged, urging the Centre to intervene.
He noted that all the victims in the fire tragedy were members of a minority (Muslim) community. "We want the central government's intervention in the state of West Bengal to stop the state-sponsored terrorism," a placard raised by one of the BJP MPs in the House read.
BJP MP Dilip Ghosh also slammed the West Bengal government. He told reporters that even Muslims, who are seen as dependable supporters of the TMC, are not safe in the state as the goons allegedly affiliated to the ruling party target people indiscriminately. Twenty-two people have so far been arrested in connection with violence in Birbhum that has claimed eight lives, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.
The family members of Bhadu Sheikh, the panchayat leader of the TMC whose killing on Monday is suspected to have sparked off the attack with petrol bombs on some 10 houses in Bogtui village on the outskirts of Rampurhat town, claimed that Sheikh's sons were among those arrested. However, police are yet to release the names of those arrested.
All the eight victims, including two children, were charred to death as nearly a dozen houses were set ablaze with petrol bombs in Bogtui in the early hours of Tuesday.
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