West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday visited Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Khagen Murmu at a private hospital in Siliguri, where he is undergoing treatment following a serious assault by the mob.
The attack took place on Monday in Nagarkata, in the Dooars region of North Bengal, while the MP was surveying areas affected by floods and landslides.
Television footage showed the chief minister entering the hospital where the Maldaha Uttar MP is currently admitted. According to sources within the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Banerjee spoke with doctors and personally assured the opposition leader that he would receive all necessary assistance from the state government, reported news agency PTI.
Details of the Assault
Murmu was reportedly attacked by a group of local people while he was in Jalpaiguri’s Dooars region on Monday, 6 October, to oversee relief and rescue operations. During the incident, he sustained serious head injuries.
BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh also alleged he was assaulted by the mob while he was distributing relief materials in the calamity-hit area.
Political Row
The attack immediately sparked a major political row in the state. The BJP was quick to accuse the ruling TMC of orchestrating the assault on their elected representatives.
Conversely, the TMC hit back, alleging that the opposition was merely engaging in a “photo opportunity” in the disaster-stricken areas rather than genuinely contributing to the relief effort. The incident has thus further escalated tensions between the two principal political parties in West Bengal.
The political row intensified further as West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya introduced a highly inflammatory claim regarding the identity of the assailants.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Bhattacharya alleged that the two party leaders—MP Khagen Murmu and MLA Shankar Ghosh—were attacked by “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingyas” in Jalpaiguri district on Monday. He further claimed that the attack was orchestrated by “jihadi” elements who were, he alleged, abetted by the ruling TMC.
In response to these allegations, Mr Bhattacharya demanded that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigate the incident.
He stressed that the central government was taking the matter seriously, asserting that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were “monitoring the situation” and would not permit such elements to “call the shots” in the state.
Bhattacharya claimed: “The attack was perpetrated by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingyas. ‘Jihadi’ elements, patronised by the ruling TMC, carried out the unprovoked attack on our two senior leaders who went to Nagrakata to meet the flood and landslide-affected people and distribute relief materials.”
About the Author
