New Delhi:
A BJP worker, who had gone missing since Saturday was found dead in West Bengal’s Basirhat. The victim has been identified as one Ajay Mondal. The 36-year-old was reportedly hacked to death. His bruised body with multiple injuries was found in a roadside canal at Bajitpur on Sunday morning. The police said that the body has been sent for autopsy to know. Earlier, another BJP worker was stabbed to death in West Bengal's West Burdwan district on Thursday, police said. Sushil Mondal, 49, was killed allegedly by a Trinamool Congress activist following an altercation over putting up BJP flags at Panduk village under Ketugram police station limits. Local TMC leaders, however, claimed Mondal was a victim of the party's internal feud. Police said Mondal's wife has lodged a complaint against three persons who are on the run.
West Bengal has witnessed widespread tension since the Lok Sabha Elections were announced in March earlier this year. Sporadic violence was reported during the 7-phase-long polls across state. Both the BJP and Trinamool have blamed each other for the bloodbath. It should be noted that family members of over 40 BJP workers, who were killed in political violence in West Bengal, were also invited for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on May 30 last month. It was the very reason for which Mamata Banerjee had turned down the invite and said that the BJP was trying to politicise the oath-taking ceremony.
The rift has only deepened since the May 23 verdict which saw the BJP creating history in Bengal. The saffron party won 18 seats in the state with ruling Trinamool Congress getting 22 seats. The double-digit growth has given the BJP every reason to cheer. How important is the Bengal win was reflected in BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s victory speech at party headquarters in New Delhi on May 23. The highly-polarised elections in Bengal saw many firsts also. In an unprecedented move, the Election Commission of India had barred campaigning a day early, before the seventh and final phase, after a bout of clashes led to the damage of property, including a bust of reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
