The BJP leadership claimed that the police denied them permission to hold the rally at the last moment.

A clash broke out between BJP workers and policemen after they were denied permission to hold a rally, in Durgapur area of West Burdwan on Thursday.

Police sources said the BJP wanted to hold the rally at a ground in Durgapur without taking proper permission.

“When policemen along with the civic police tried to stop the BJP activists from holding the rally, clashes broke out between the two sides,” said a senior police officer.

Television footage showed BJP workers attacking policemen with bamboo sticks after being stopped from holding the rally. According to PTI, four policemen were injured in the clash. The police then resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowd.

The BJP leadership claimed that the police denied them permission to hold the rally at the last moment.

“We were denied permission at the last moment because it was organised by BJP. Had it been a TMC rally, the police would have given permission. Today, we saw how the police have become stooges of the ruling party, which is making attempts to suppress the voice of the Opposition,” said BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh claimed the owner of the ground had granted permission for holding the rally, PTI said.

The party later organised a rally using a makeshift dais on a vehicle. Senior TMC leader and Asansol Mayor Jitendranath Tiwari slammed the BJP for forcibly holding the rally.

“It is for the police to grant permission to hold a rally. The BJP tried to hold the rally without a permission. The police only maintained law and order there,” he said.