The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday alleged that workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress attacked its Lok Sabha election candidate Pranat Tudu during his campaign at Sankrail in West Bengal’s Jhargram district.
“Sensing defeat in Jhargram (Lok Sabha seat), TMC goons attacked BJP candidate Pranat Tudu and its workers in front of the police, on their way from Rohini to Roghra in the area,” the West Bengal unit of BJP posted on X along with a video.
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The saffron camp urged the Election commission to take note of the incident and take appropriate steps to ensure free and fair polls in the state.
“This is most unfortunate. WB police is a mere spectator. Mamata Banerjee is targeting a tribal leader because he is popular and enjoys Jhargram’s support,” the BJP said in the post.
Refusing the BJP charges, a local TMC leader told PTI,”BJP workers were in large numbers while we were only seven to eight at that spot. It is them who chased us while we were on our way.”
Pranat Tudu, a physician by profession, faces Kalipada Soren of the TMC in Jhargram. The constituency is reserved for scheduled tribes and comprises seven assembly segments, all of them being represented by the TMC.
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In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Kumar Hembram of the BJP had defeated TMC’s Birbaha Soren by more than 11,000 votes.
Voting in the 42 parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal will be held across seven phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC had won 34 seats in the state, while the BJP had bagged just two seats. The CPI (M) won two seats, while the Congress bagged four.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 18 seats against the TMC’s 22. The Congress’s tally dropped to just two seats, while the Left scored a blank.
