The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a nationwide protest against the murders of its workers in West Bengal, allegedly by Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters.
The protests took place as TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee took oath as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the second consecutive time on 5 May, at the Raj Bhawan in Kolkata.
At the state headquarters of the BJP in Kolkata, Bengal unit President Dilip Ghosh and national President JP Nadda administered an oath to the 77 BJP MLAs who had won in the West Bengal Assembly and senior party leaders against "politics of hate".
At the headquarters of the Bengal BJP in Kolkata, Bengal unit President Dilip Ghosh, and national President JP Nadda, administered an oath to the 77 BJP MLAs who'd won in the West Bengal Assembly, and senior party leaders against the "politics of hate".
(Photo: BJP Bengal)
"Those who were supposed to protect others are the ones responsible for this violence. They can take oath, everyone has the right to do that in a democracy. But we also take an oath that we'll dismantle the political violence in Bengal,” Nadda said.
"We pledge that we shall carry out our responsibility by happily accepting the mandate and play the important role of Opposition. We fought in Bengal to end political violence, appeasement and tyranny. We won't step back from dispensing our duties,” he added.
BJP units in other parts of the country also staged demonstrations.
A protest in Maharashtra was organised under former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
A similar protest was also organised in Rajasthan.
BJP protest in Rajasthan.
(Photo: BJP Bengal)
In Tamil Nadu too, BJP workers demonstrated against the alleged killings in Bengal.
Nadda also visited the home of a woman in Bengal's Jagaddal whose son, a BJP worker, was allegedly killed.
"The situation is very serious. I've been in politics for a long time. Such an atmosphere was created in 2001 when CPI(M) was making an exit. At that time, Mamata Banerjee got 60 seats. There was political violence in some areas. This time, it is happening across the state. People of a particular community are being attacked. As Nadda ji said, the situation is similar to what happened at the time of partition,” said BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
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