Stones, Eggs Thrown at Kunal Ghosh's Car in Hooghly; MLA Blames 'Jungle Raj'
Trinamool MLA Kunal Ghosh's car was attacked with stones and eggs by a mob in Hooghly while he was en route to a Mamata Banerjee rally. The rear windshield was shattered.
A mob in Hooghly district attacked the car of Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh with stones and eggs on Saturday, shattering the vehicle's rear windshield and forcing him to abandon his journey to a rally addressed by party chief Mamata Banerjee.
Video footage of the incident showed a crowd surrounding the MLA's vehicle, banging on it and raising slogans of "Kunal Ghosh go back" as eggs and stones were hurled. Ghosh was seated inside the car at the time. With the rear windshield broken, he turned back towards Kolkata.
Ghosh described the attack as "jungle raj" and said no police personnel were present at the spot. He added that he was returning to the city and would go directly to Lal Bazaar or Bhawani Bhawan to file a complaint.
Mamata Banerjee blamed the BJP for the attack, alleging that the ruling party was preventing people from attending her rally. She also claimed that police were stopping party supporters from reaching the meeting in Srirampur, and compared the situation to events that, she said, do not occur even in African countries.
Party leader Asit Majumdar called it a "pre-planned attack by the BJP" rather than a protest by ordinary citizens. Uttarpara BJP MLA Dipanjan Chakraborty, however, characterised the incident as a "spontaneous response from the public".
The attack is the latest in a series of egg-pelting incidents targeting Trinamool leaders since the party's defeat in the May assembly elections. While the Trinamool has accused the BJP of orchestrating such attacks, the ruling party has described them as public anger directed at "corrupt" Trinamool leaders.
Earlier this month, MP Mahua Moitra faced an egg-pelting protest by alleged BJP workers while leaving a political meeting in Tehatta, Nadia district. The Calcutta High Court has previously intervened in multiple related incidents, asking the state government to report on the action taken against those involved in egg attacks.