Several senior BJP leaders and members were detained by the police as they marched towards the KMC headquarters. They were eventually released.
On Monday (July 5), BJP supporters clashed with police during a march to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) offices to protest the city’s bogus vaccine fraud. Despite the police denying them permission, saffron party workers and leaders held protests outside the BJP state headquarters and the Hind Cinema.
The agitation programme exposed cracks in the saffron camp, as Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and BJP Yuva Morcha president Saumitra Khan were conspicuously absent.
The saffron party had organised the demonstration to expose the alleged relationship between Debanjan Deb, the accused mastermind of the fake vaccine racket, and numerous ruling party politicians and KMC bosses, according to state BJP chairman Dilip Ghosh. “When the TMC was in opposition, they used to put on shows without getting authorization. And now, if we want to host a political event, we can’t because we’re forbidden to do so “he said.
The Kolkata police, on the other hand, disputed the claims, claiming that the BJP was denied permission on Sunday evening due to the COVID scenario. The cops stopped the BJP activists and appealed with them to return. Instead, people became enraged and tore down barricades. We had to use force to disperse them, although no baton charge was used, according to a police official.
“These fake vaccination camps have nothing to do with the TMC or the KMC. The case is being investigated by the authorities, and the primary suspect has been apprehended. However, the BJP is attempting to politicise the issue in order to vent its anger over its humiliating setback in the assembly elections.” Partha Chatterjee, the TMC’s secretary general, said.
Meanwhile, the saffron party’s agitation exposed a schism inside the party, with Khan and Adhikari opting out of the event, despite the fact that the Yuva Morcha had called for it. Ghosh, on the other hand, claimed that both leaders were involved with other political programmes, which is why they were unable to join our protest march to the KMC.