Day after a Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillor from Panihati and a Congress councillor from Jhalda were killed, the BJP parliamentary party on Monday demanded a statement from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the matter.
Kumar Gram BJP MLA Manoj Orao drew attention to the issue in the ‘Calling Attention’ episode. Later, Siliguri BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh raised the issue again in ‘Zero Hour’.
The BJP MLAs started protesting outside the session hall and demanded that the chief minister should immediately come to the Assembly and respond to the issue. They also demanded the arrest of the real culprits in the murder of the councillors.
BJP leader Agnimitra Paul said: “The manner in which Panihati Trinamool councillor Anupam Dutt and Jhalda Congress councillor Tapan Kandu were shot dead from the point blank range on Sunday evening is disturbing. We have been claiming that there is no rule of law in West Bengal,” she said.
We want the chief minister to come and clarify the position of the state government in this regard, she added.
Harishchandrapur Trinamool MLA Tajmul Hossain said in the Assembly: “One person has already been arrested in connection with the murder of a councillor in Panihati. He is being interrogated to find out who else is behind the incident.”
Panihati TMC councillor Anupam Dutta was shot dead by four miscreants on the bike, police said on Sunday, adding that the bullet hit the victim’s head.
Congress MP from Berhampore Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday alleged that the party’s elected representative was shot dead by TMC “goons”. “There is no democracy in West Bengal. Our elected representative Tapan Kandu was shot dead by TMC goons this evening to stop Congress from making councillor in Jhalda Municipality of Purulia district,” he had said.