On the final day of campaigning in Hooghly, a Trinamool MP's account of stones thrown at her car in Goghat collided with a BJP account of its own workers being struck, each side naming the other as the aggressor. The matter is the familiar shape of election-season violence, where the truth of a single afternoon becomes a contest of images and claims. What will settle it, for now, is a set of recordings that neither camp controls: the CCTV footage the Election Commission has requested and the live video a wounded politician posted from her own seat.
TMC MP Mitali Bag Alleges BJP Attack on Her Car in Hooghly; EC Seeks CCTV Report
TMC MP Mitali Bag was reportedly cut by broken glass and treated at a local health centre; BJP says about 50 of its workers were injured, 20 hospitalised.
Both camps claim to be the victims of the same afternoon in Goghat.
Mark
Two parties, one afternoon, and two opposite stories. Where does this start?
Mimi
With Mitali Bag on Facebook Live, crying, saying stones broke her car windows near the BJP candidate's office in Goghat while she was heading to an Abhishek Banerjee rally.
Mark
And the BJP's answer?
Mimi
That nothing like that happened. Their spokesperson says TMC supporters charged at BJP activists and hurt several, and that Bag is staging a drama.
Luke
Worth noting that so far, everything is attributed. The attack on the car is her account. The injuries to BJP workers are the BJP's account.
Mark
She did go to a health centre, though.
Mimi
She was wheeled in by staff, yes. But what injuries she had, if any, isn't stated in the reporting.
Luke
Right, and the figure of nearly 50 injured and 20 hospitalised comes from one BJP leader, Biman Ghosh. No hospital or police count is given.
Mark
Sanjay Khan is named by the BJP. What does he say?
Mimi
He denies it and says BJP workers entered the locality and threw bombs at residents from a minority community.
Luke
So that's a third version, again unverified. What we actually have confirmed is that the Election Commission has asked for CCTV and is checking the live video.
Mark
So the footage matters most.
Luke
It could. We don't yet know whether cameras covered the spot or what they show.
Der Puls
- A Trinamool MP says her windows were smashed by stones outside a BJP candidate's office, and she spoke through tears on a live video.
- The BJP calls the attack a staged drama and says its own workers, around fifty of them, were beaten with sticks, rods, and firearms.
- Both camps have dug in, each trading accusations of violence and provocation on the last day before the vote.
- The Election Commission has requested the CCTV report and is reviewing the Facebook Live footage, and its findings could decide which story stands.
On the final day of campaigning in Hooghly, a Trinamool MP's account of stones thrown at her car in Goghat collided with a BJP account of its own workers being struck, each side naming the other as the aggressor. The matter is the familiar shape of election-season violence, where the truth of a single afternoon becomes a contest of images and claims. What will settle it, for now, is a set of recordings that neither camp controls: the CCTV footage the Election Commission has requested and the live video a wounded politician posted from her own seat.
On the last day of campaigning in Hooghly district, Trinamool Congress MP Mitali Bag, who represents Arambagh, went live on Facebook in tears. She said her car had been attacked at Goghat on Monday, April 27, while she was travelling to a rally led by party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. In her telling, lathi-wielding BJP workers blocked the road in front of the office of BJP candidate Prashanta Digar and threw stones that shattered the windows while she sat in the front seat. She said she was cut by shards of glass and taken to a local health centre. Speaking as a Dalit woman from the Bagdi community, she accused the BJP of attacking a woman MP without provocation and asked the Election Commission to take responsibility.
The Trinamool shared the video and called it proof of what it described as a fascist party's true nature. The BJP rejected all of it. Spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said his party had not attacked Bag and that Trinamool supporters had charged at BJP activists, injuring several. Former Arambagh BJP president Biman Ghosh went further, claiming nearly fifty of his workers were hurt and twenty hospitalised in an assault by men led by Goghat Trinamool leader Sanjay Khan. Khan denied this and said BJP workers had hurled bombs at residents.
The Election Commission has taken no side. Its office has sought the CCTV report and is examining Bag's Facebook Live video. With both camps claiming victimhood from the same afternoon, those records may be the first test of the competing accounts.
On the last day of campaigning in West Bengal's Hooghly district, Trinamool Congress MP Mitali Bag went live on Facebook, in tears, to say her car had been attacked. Bag, who represents Arambagh, said she was travelling to a rally by party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee when the incident happened at Goghat, on Monday, April 27.
By her account, her vehicle was passing the election office of BJP candidate Prashanta Digar when lathi-wielding BJP workers sitting in front of the office blocked the road and threw stones. She was in the front seat of the MUV, she said, with several party workers behind her. The stones smashed the window panes. She described herself as a Dalit woman from the Bagdi community and said the BJP, which talks about women's safety, had attacked a woman MP without provocation.
Bag asked the Election Commission to take responsibility. She also addressed the state's Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Agarwal, who she said had recently claimed during a visit that TMC workers were terrorising people in the area. She asked him to check the facts. She said she was covered in shards of broken glass; she was taken to a local health centre, where medical staff wheeled her inside.
The TMC shared her video on its social media page, calling the incident proof of the true nature of a fascist party. State general secretary Kunal Ghosh said the party would not take it lying down and that the people of Bengal would answer in the voting. His statement referred to an attack on a woman MLA, though Bag is an MP.
The BJP rejected all of it. Spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said his party had not attacked Bag at all. In his telling, TMC supporters charged at BJP activists inside the office and injured several of them. He said Bag was staging a drama to divert attention.
Biman Ghosh, former BJP president of the Arambagh unit, went further. He said BJP workers campaigning for Digar were attacked by miscreants led by Goghat Trinamool leader Sanjay Khan, using sticks, bricks, rods and firearms. By his count, nearly 50 people were injured and 20 admitted to hospital, and the candidate's vehicle was also vandalised. He said Bag was staging a drama to suppress that incident.
Khan dismissed the allegations. He said it was BJP workers who entered the locality and began hurling bombs at residents, who belong to a minority community.
The Election Commission has not taken a side. The CEO's office said it has sought the CCTV report and is examining the Facebook Live video Bag posted. With both camps claiming to be the victims of the same afternoon in Goghat, those two records may be the first thing to test the competing accounts.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
To divert attention, Bag is now staging a drama.— Debjit Sarkar, BJP spokesperson
We have sought the CCTV report. We are also checking the Facebook Live done by the MP.— Election Commission official (CEO's office)
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