Balarampur (Purulia):
BJP leaders went on the offensive in Purulia’s Balarampur on Monday where party state president Dilip Ghosh asked the gathering to mob police vehicles if they came on night raids in the villages. Ghosh also urged the womenfolk to come out with kitchen knives in case policemen barged into their homes.
Ghosh gave the battle cry just two weeks ahead of BJP president Amit Shah’s visit to Kolkata on June 27, from where he is likely to visit Purulia, the only district where the opposition has won more panchayat seats than Trinamool.
“Mob them with bonti and tie them to nearby trees if policemen visit your homes to ask about your family members,” Ghosh said, in an effort to charge up the ranks against police that are yet to book the culprits behing the killings of BJP activists Trilochan Mahato and Dulal Kumar.
Sensing the winds of change in rural Purulia, Trinamool councillor of Raghunathpur municipality Mrityunjoy Bauri and Trinamool district general secretary Bishnupada Mahata joined BJP at the party’s Balarampur gathering.
BJP has won 142 panchayat samity seats in Purulia, with a majority in the two Raghunathpur panchayat samitis. Leaders Rahul Sinha, Sayantan Basu and Locket Chatterjee have been staying put in the district for the last four days to give a shape to the public angst against “police atrocities”.
Earlier in the day, Ghosh visited the victims’ families in Supurdih and Balarampur. “Police have slapped murder charges on our party activists without any rhyme or reason. They didn’t resort to violence. Instead, they went to the police station to lodge complaints against Trinamool men. Police arrested them and initiated criminal cases against them. Many BJP activists have fled homes to other states,” Ghosh said. He added that TMC is not in a mood to accept the panchayat mandate in the district.