TMC and BJP locked horns on Tuesday as both parties blamed each other for claiming the legacy of the anti-land acquisition movement at Nandigram on its 16th anniversary.
The BJP, led by the Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, organised rallies in Nandigram area of Purba Medinipur district to commemorate the day which saw 14 anti-land acquisition protestors killed in police firing in 2007. “The Nandigram movement was not a movement of any particular party but of the locals. It is a heroic tale of resilience and struggle of the poor people of Nandigram, who fought against the then mighty Left Front. But unfortunately one political party derived benefits from this people’s movement,” he said in an oblique reference to TMC while offering floral tributes at Gokulnagar to those who died in the police action on that fateful day.
Adhikari, the Nandigram lawmaker who had defected from TMC to the saffron camp ahead of the 2021 assembly polls, took a dig at the Mamata Banerjee government for promoting IPS officers.