Bengal BJP leader alleges she was attacked by Trinamool workers

A local BJP leader on Sunday alleged that she was assaulted by Trinamool Congress workers in Kolkata. She suffered injuries to her head during the incident.

Saraswati Sarkar, the president of Kasba Mahila Mandal, claimed she was attacked with sharp weapons by Trinamool Congress workers when she and BJP workers were putting up election banners and festoons. The incident took place at 11:30 pm on Saturday in the Anandapur area in south Kolkata.

In a video that has gone viral on social media, Sarkar was seen bleeding profusely as she suffered injuries to her head. In another video, some men were seen walking on a deserted road with sticks.

Sarkar was rushed to a hospital and later registered a police complaint at a local police station.

Sarkar later told reporters that two of her team members, who were putting up banners as part of the party campaign on Saturday night, were brutally beaten up allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers.

"When I went to rescue them, I myself became a target of the TMC goons," she claimed.

Union Minister Smriti Irani said she spoke to Sarkar following the incident.

"Spoke to Saraswati Sarkar, our brave karyakarta (party worker) from Kasba Mandal, physically beaten and battered by TMC gundas (goons). If this is the brutality in South Kolkata, I shudder to think of the extremities in Sandeshkhali," she tweeted.

Amit Malviya, BJP's IT cell head and co-in-charge of West Bengal, alleged that no woman was safe in the state.

"No woman is safe in West Bengal. Last night, TMC goons targeted Saraswati Sarkar, who serves as the BJP's Kasba Mandal president (in south Kolkata). The situation is further exacerbated by Mamata Banerjee's colossal failure as the Home Minister of Bengal," he wrote on X.

Sharing a video of Sarkar who was seen sitting in a police station with her head bleeding profusely, Malviya said, "One can only imagine the severity of safety concerns in Sandeshkhali if even Kolkata is not secure. The people of Bengal will undoubtedly respond to these heinous acts."

West Bengal BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya claimed that Kolkata had earlier never witnessed such attacks on women, asserting that people of the state would give a "befitting reply to such atrocities".

Local BJP workers staged a protest in front of Anandapur police station, demanding the immediate arrest of those responsible for the attack and the alleged "lacklustre approach" of the law enforcers.

A Trinamool Congress leader denied the involvement of the party in the incident and called for bringing those responsible to the book.

Voting will be held in the constituencies in Kolkata and its surrounding areas in the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha polls on June 1. Results are expected to be declared on June 4.

(with inputs from PTI)