Trinamool Congress (TMC) National General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday strongly condemned the alleged attack on West Bengal Minister Shashi Panja in Kolkata's Girish Park area, accusing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) workers of orchestrating the assault. In a post on X, Banerjee called the incident "dastardly" and an attempt to spread fear and intimidation in the state.
"I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the dastardly, cowardly and utterly reprehensible attack on our Minister Shashi Panja. Her home was vandalised and ransacked. Our party workers and supporters were mercilessly beaten. And she herself was physically assaulted, with stones and bricks hurled at her, leaving her injured. A serving Cabinet Minister was attacked in broad daylight by BJP goons emboldened by their Prime Minister's presence in the city. This is not an attack on one woman. This is an attack on every woman of Bengal. Bengal has seen this before," he said. Banerjee further linked the incident to past events, citing the 2019 vandalism of the Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar bust at a rally.
"In 2019, from Amit Shah's rally, the bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was vandalised and desecrated. This is BJP's culture. These BOHIRAGOTO BJP ZAMINDARS want to import their politics of PROVOCATION to Bengal. They want to destroy peace. They want to spread fear. This will neither be forgiven, nor be forgotten. Bengal will not tolerate BJP's SAFFRON GUNDAGARDI," he added on X. Earlier today, a clash involving stone-pelting broke out between the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and TMC workers in the Girish Park area. The clash resulted in several members of both sides sustaining injuries on arms, legs, and heads.