Violence at Amit Shah’s roadshow; BJP workers, varsity students clash
KOLKATA : Unprecedented chaos erupted at BJP chief Amit Shah’s road show in Kolkata where massive clashes broke out between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and supporters and students of Calcutta University after the latter protested against the BJP chief’s rally.
Today’s road show – called the “Save Republic rally” had started around 4.30 pm from Esplanade in central Kolkata.Ugly scenes were witnessed as furious BJP supporters confronted the agitating students and even threw stones and bottles at the University gates.
Students of the Calcutta University had reportedly shown black flags as the BJP road show passed in front of its gates and had also raised slogans such as “Amit Shah go back”, targeting the BJP president. The protest irked the BJP supporters who charged upon the students, resulting in utter chaos and mayhem at the spot in the presence of police.amit-shah-kolkata-rally-salil
In his first reaction after clashes broke out during the roadshow, BJP chief Amit Shah claimed that the TMC goons were frustrated with the positive response that the BJP road show had received today. Shah said, “Today the way BJP’s road show got a response in Kolkata with almost every citizen attending it, TMC’s goons were frustrated & so attacked it. Notably, Trinamool Congress’ students’ union wing has a strong presence in the students’ body at the Calcutta University.
Visuals from the scene of the protest showed that a couple of motorcycles and cycles had also been set on fire outside the varsity gates. With the situation deteriorating, the cops had shut the gates of the University campus.
The roadshow was supposed to end at the residence of Swami Vivekananda in the city. However, in view of the violence, the BJP chief did not get a chance to pay tributes and garland Vivekananda’s statue.
Earlier in the day, the war of words had intensified between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress after posters of Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi were removed in key areas in Kolkata, just hours ahead of Shah’s road show. The BJP had claimed that TMC workers were responsible for removing the posters, with senior party leader Kailash Vijayavargiya saying, “Mamata ji’s goons and police removed all the posters and flags. They escaped soon after we reached here.”
However, TMC had dismissed the allegations, with party leader Derek O’Brien terming the BJP “desperate.” He said in a tweet, “Just figured why the BJP are getting more and more desperate in Bengal. Top exit pollsters confide in private, that BJP hurtling to below 30 in UP.”
The violence started after the BJP supporters saw some students of north Kolkata’s Vidyasagar College, standing with “Go Back Amit Shah” posters. Motorcycles parked inside were dragged out and set on fire. A bust of Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar – a 19th century educationist and social reformer – on the premises was vandalised.
The Mamata Banerjee government had allegedly withheld permission for a rally led by Amit Shah in the Jadhavpur constituency yesterday. No permission was granted either for the landing of his chopper.Supporters of the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress had clashed as the venue of the cancelled event.
Later, Amit Shah had taken on the Chief Minister, alleging that she was trying to protect her nephew, who was contesting this time from one of the areas he was supposed to visit. Last year, the government had also withheld permission for three BJP rath yatras in the state on grounds of law and order. Its decision was accepted by the Supreme Court at a hearing in January.
It went at a leisurely pace through roads lined with saffron balloons and BJP flags, artistes dressed as the Lord Ram and Lakshman stood on trucks as others, dressed as Hanumans, milled around or danced to music – a 300-feet column of people that walked along the BJP chief’s cavalcade.(With Inputs from Kolkata Bureau).
