BJP hits out at TMC over attack on bypoll candidate in Bengal

Hitting out at the TMC for an alleged attack on one of its Assembly bypoll candidates in West Bengal, the BJP on Monday said it showed the jitteriness of state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was resorting to violence.

Alleging that Trinamool Congress (TMC) "goons" were behind the attack on its Karimpur candidate, Jay Prakash Majumdar, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said "democracy is being murdered" in the state and the Election Commission (EC) should take cognisance of the incident.

"The manner in which TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is resorting to political violence to win the bypolls shows her jitteriness and the EC should take cognisance of it," BJP's national spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao told reporters here.

Majumdar was allegedly beaten up by TMC activists at the Phipulkhola area of Nadia district as he was about to enter a polling booth on Monday.

Describing the attack on the BJP leader as "cruelty of the worst kind", Rao said it exemplified the lawlessness in West Bengal and urged the EC to order immediate arrest of the TMC "goons" responsible for it.

Television footage showed Majumdar being beaten up and kicked by some people.

Holding TMC "goons" responsible for the attack on him, Majumdar said, the wounds would heal but the incident was a "clear" sign of the "end of democracy" in West Bengal.

The BJP leader alleged that the TMC activists were false voters, who had assembled in the area with the intention of rigging the election.