Clashes broke out on Tuesday between BJP supporters and student activists and those of the Left and Trinamool Congress Chatra Parishad (TMCP) during Amit Shah's roadshow in Kolkata, West Bengal. The police stepped in and lathi-charged the crowd to take control of the situation.
Officials told PTI that stones were allegedly hurled at Amit Shah's convoy as it passed through College Street, and the arterial Bidhan Sarani on its way to Swami Vivekananda's residence in north Kolkata, a little over 3.5 km from Esplanade in the heart of the city, where it began.
A scuffle broke outside the Calcutta University campus on College Street, when student activists of both the Left and the TMCP shouted slogans against Shah, they said.
Advertisement
They showed black flags and waved posters with "Amit Shah go back" written on them.
A video shows hundreds of BJP supporters, dressed in saffron t-shirts, running away from the scene where clashes broke out after sticks were allegedly thrown at Shah's truck. Visuals also showed BJP supporters hurling stones at what appeared to be a building while a bike was set ablaze by the angry crowd.
A BJP delegation, comprising Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Anil Baluni, GVL Narasimha Rao and others will meet Election Commission of India (ECI) to intimate it about the development.
Advertisement
Earlier in the day, in the heart of the city of joy, Kolkata, "Jai Shri Ram" slogans filled the air on Tuesday afternoon as the cavalcade of BJP President Amit Shah moved leisurely through fluttering BJP flags.
Rows of people, present in thousands, on both sides of the road, pushed and shoved for a view of Shah, who raised his fist in the air to the rhythm of "Modi-Modi."
Ahead of Shah's decorated truck, were dancers dancing to the beats of dholak, and people dressed as Lord Ram and Hanuman followed the BJP president on a separate truck.
The roadshow came a day after Shah challenged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to arrest him, saying, "I am chanting 'Jai Shri Ram', arrest me."
The BJP president and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have embarked, on a mission of sorts, this election season to ensure the saffron party scores big in the Mamata bastion in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
The West Bengal chief minister, for her part, has been dismissive of the BJP's prospects in the state, often saying that Narendra Modi's days at Lok Kalyan Marg are numbered.
On Tuesday, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya told news agency ANI that "Mamata ji's goons and police removed all the posters and flags of our party."
"They escaped soon after we reached here," he said.
Advertisement
The state has witnessed violence intermittently, and the party workers from both sides have brawled on voting days.
Of the 42 seats in the state, 31 have already voted and the remaining will go to polls on May 19, four days before the results are declared on May 23.
