West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and president of Trinamool Congress’s youth wing Abhishek Banerjee was today slapped by a youth at a rally at Chandipur in East Midnapore district, causing an outrage in the party.
The youth, wearing a cap, mounted the stage from which Banerjee, an MP, was addressing the gathering and while clicking photos on his cell phone suddenly lunged towards Banerjee and slapped him, taking him off-guard, police officials said.
TMC workers present on the stage caught the youth and beat him up.
TMC secretary-general Partha Chattejee said he had asked the district SP to inquire into the incident and submit a report immediately.
Describing the act as “cowardly”, he said that already an arrest has been made.
“I have asked the SP to conduct an inquiry and submit a report to the government. I also talked to Abhishek over phone. He told me that he had been slapped, received injury on his left eye and physically assaulted, but he never stopped addressing the gathering,” Chatterjee said.
TMC leader and Rajya Sabha member Derek O’ Brien said, “On the pretext of taking a picture he (Abhishek) was slapped. We are in the hurly-burly of politics. We will look into this and we will find out whether there is any outsider involved.”
It might have been a plan to attack the MP Abhishek Banerjee and threaten his life, O’Brien said, adding, “Now, it is upto the administration to inquire into the matter.”
The BJP condemned the incident but described it as a result of the TMC’s internal feud.
“We do not support such incidents. We condemn the incident because we believe there cannot be any violence in politics,” party’s national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh told newspersons.
Partha condemns assault of Abhishek
Condemning today’s assault of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee in East Midnapore district, Trinamool Congress secretary-general Partha Chattejee said that he had asked the district SP to inquire into the incident and submit a report.
Banerjee, who is also Trinamool Youth Congress president, was slapped by a youth wearing a cap during a public meeting at Chandipur in East Midnapore district.
Chatterjee described the act as “cowardly” and said that the administration would act immediately.
“Already an arrest has been made,” he said.
“I have asked the SP to conduct an inquiry and submit a report to the government. I also talked to Abhishek over phone. He told me that he had been slapped, received injury on his left eye and physically assaulted, but he never stopped addressing the gathering,” Chatterjee said.
“No such attack on our leaders could stop us performing our duties and responsiblilites to people,” he said.
Speaking about the identity of the attacker, who moved towards Abhishek while taking snaps on his cell phone before slapping him, Chatterjee said that the police was also asked to inquire about his details and arrest all those involved in the incident.
Reacting to the incident, TMC leader and Rajya Sabha member Derek O’ Brien said, “On the pretext of taking a picture he (Abhishek) was slapped. We are in the hurly-burly of politics. We will look into this and we will find out whether there is any outsider involved.”
“Unfortunate incident at a public meeting in Chandipur may have been a plan to attack our MP Abhishek Banerjee and threaten his life. Now, it is upto the administration to inquire into the matter and the law to take its course,” he said.
Slap a result of Trinamool internal feud: BJP
The BJP today criticised the incident of slapping of TMC youth wing president and MP Abhishek Banerjee during a public meeting in East Midnapore district and described it as a result of the party’s internal feud.
“We (BJP) does not support such incidents. We condemn the incident because we believe there cannot be any violence in politics,” BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh told reporters in his reaction to the incident.
“But I think TMC leadership should introspect the incident. Reports are coming that it’s the job of an insider. We know that Midnapore is an area where there is a tussle between the former TMC youth president versus the current one which is Abhishek Banerjee. And it seems in that tussle between the leadership one of the supporters of the former has slapped him. It clearly shows there is a civil war,” Singh said.
Alleging that the incident clearly showed that the deteriorating law and order system in the state, BJP MLA in the Bengal Assembly Samik Bhattacharya too condemned the incident.
“If an MP is attacked on the dais during a public meeting in such a manner it clearly shows the law and order situation in the state,” Bhattacharya said.
BJP’s state president Rahul Sinha supported Bhattacharya’s comment and termed the incident as a result of the internal feud of the TMC.
“The incident has brought forth the factional feud of Trinamool Congress and also showed how bad the law and order situation is in West Bengal. We do not support the incident, but also condemn the way the person, who attacked Abhishek Banerjee, was beaten up,” he said.
Demanding a quick probe into the incident to reveal the identity of the person who attacked Banerjee, Singh said that the youth could also be a victim of the Saradha scam.
Congress’ state president Adhir Chowdhury said that the incident was “got-up” and said, “It’s nothing but the internal conflict of the party that is surfacing out.
“It’s got-up. If the person is not of their party’s, then how could be manage to get up to the dais amid a meeting when the party MP was delivering his speech. The attacker is very much a TMC worker and this is a result of their factional feud. This will eat up the party like a Frankenstein,” Chowdhury told PTI.
The opposition Left Front also criticised the incident.
“It is a glaring display of intra-party squabble,” LF Chairman Biman Bose said while reacting to the incident.
“Such incidents will increase becasue of the TMC’s failure to govern the state,” Bose observed.
CPI(M) MP Md Salim said, “The incident is unexpected. It is not in our culture. We have not inherited this in a democracy. We can’t support this. Rules, principles and ethics are fast losing their value here.”