New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had an “angry exchange” during a telephonic conversation over violence at a town near Kolkata after a rally by BJP chief Amit Shah.
Sources told CNN-News18 that when Singh called up Banerjee on Tuesday to express concern over the reports of arson, a “cross trading of charges” ensued between the two.
The telephonic conversation was regarding the reports of large-scale violence and arson against people who participated in the rally of the BJP president in East Midnapore district, a home ministry official said.
Vehicles ferrying BJP workers were set on fire in clashes that broke out following Shah’s rally, party sources said. The sources said three persons were injured in the clashes. No confirmation was available from police.
The BJP alleged that buses in which party workers were returning from Shah’s rally were ransacked and set on fire allegedly by TMC activists. The Trinamool Congress on the other hand claimed that BJP workers had attacked a local TMC party office in Kanthi and vandalised it.
To protest the “lack of democracy” in Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to carry out a rally on Wednesday afternoon. BJP’s national executive committee member Mukul Roy and state BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu will also participate in the agitation.