Gutted house and articals at Ramkrishna Dangalpara due to Ramnabami rally clash on Tuesday. (Source: Express photo by Subham Dutta)
A four-member BJP delegation constituted by party president Amit Shah to take stock of the situation in violence-hit Asansol in West Bengal, paid a visit to a relief camp and toured other affected areas on Sunday.
The delegation comprising BJP national vice-president and Rajya Sabha member Om Prakash Mathur, national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain, Palamu MP and former director-general of Jharkhand police Vishnu Dayal Ram and Rajya Sabha member Roopa Ganguly left for Asansol this morning.
The four-member team will speak to local residents affected by last week’s violence over a Ram Navami procession and submit a detailed report to president Amit Shah.
Earlier, it wasn’t clear whether the delegation would be allowed to visit Asansol, which remained tense in the days following the death of two persons.
The TMC government on Saturday cited the model code of conduct in effect due to the announcement of dates for the panchayat polls over its inability to provide the required security cover.
“It’s up to the police to decide on this matter. If they think that presence of these leaders may hamper peace there they may take a decision of not allowing them. This is absolutely logical,” a senior official at the state government told PTI. “We are keeping a watch on the situation,” he added.
On Saturday, West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi visited Asansol and Raniganj. He, however, did not stop at any of the minority-dominated areas during his four-and-a-half-hour- tour. The Governor appealed for peace and said everyone to respect each other’s religious festivals.
“I have come here with a message of peace and I appeal to all the people to be in harmony and respect each other,” Tripathi said. “Everybody should respect each other’s religious festivals.”