Kolkata saw stone-pelting and stray incidents of violence when the Bengal BJP youth wing’s march to the state secretariat building, Nabanna, took a violent turn on Thursday. Party workers hurled crude bombs and bricks at policemen and police, in return, used water cannons at them and fired tear gas shells, besides a lathicharge, to disperse the crowd. Police also lathi-charged workers on the Howrah Bridge. BJP state vice-president Raju Banerjee and MP Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato were injured during clashes. BJP national secretary Arvind Menon was also wounded.

The protest march was over the recent murder of BJP leader Manish Shukla. Two Trinamool Congress leaders have been named in the FIR filed by police in the Shukla killing. BJP workers set tyres on fire as a mark of protest. Leaders like Mukul Roy, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Locket Chatterjee and Arjun Singh were among those present in the protest.

The BJP has launched a statewide ‘Nabanna Chalo’ rally on Thursday to protest the killing of its party workers. The party claimed 2,00,000 people are expected to participate in these protests despite trains and buses running with limited capacity. BJP’s Yuva Morcha chief Tejasvi Surya, who was among those leading the march, said tear gas and water cannons were launched at the agitators. Surya compared West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government to fascist despots. Surya wrote that bombs were hurled at the peaceful march by Trinamool goons from rooftops and tear gas, water cannons with dark blue liquid launched by the police at protesters.

Read Also: Bihar polls: BJP says Nitish Kumar will remain NDA’s chief minister

The ruling Trinamool government on Wednesday refused permission to the event citing the Pandemic Act and said rallies within permissible parameters of just 100 participants will be given clearance. Earlier, the state government had also announced that Nabanna will remain shut for two days from October 8 for sanitisation work.

The post BJP’s Kolkata march turns violent, Surya decries fascist Mamata government appeared first on APN News.