KOLKATA: Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, on his first public foray outside Kalighat after the party’s ouster from office, was on Saturday assaulted and abused by a crowd of protesters in Sonarpur as he tried to reach the home of a Trinamool worker allegedly killed in post-poll violence.As he hopped on a motorbike and then tried to walk a 600metre muddy stretch leading to the home of Sanju Karmakar under ward 9 of Sonarpur Rajpur municipality, the protesters chased him shouting ‘chor, chor’, pelted him with eggs, stones and chappals, tore his shirt, punched him in the chest, slapped him and broke his spectacles while continuously screaming abuses. Abhishek had to wear a helmet to escape further injury.The 10-minute assault continued in the absence of police even as a handful of party workers threw a ring around him and managed to get him to Karmakar’s home. He had to stay there for more than an hour as the angry crowd camped outside, threatening to break down the door. He was finally escorted out by central force personnel and local cops.“It was a planned attack by BJP workers. They wanted to kill me. Everyone knew I was coming. The SP, IC and other officials had been informed in advance. BJP supporters had gathered beforehand and they threw bricks and stones at me,” Abhishek said. He added that he would approach high court and Supreme Court and move a motion for breach of privilege as a Lok Sabha MP.Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee shared a video of the assault on X and wrote, “Shame on you BJP.” Several party MPs in their posts flagged the recent downgrading of Abhishek’s Z-plus security.BJP dissociated itself from the attack and claimed party workers were not behind it. “There may be political hostility, but such incidents are not desirable in a healthy, democratic society. My party has absolutely no connection with this. However, we should also remember the atrocities committed against BJP workers by Trinamool over the years. Had Trinamool won, 500 of our workers would have been dead by now. We have exercised restraint,” said state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya.
Oppn members don’t even have right to get treatment: Mamata
Junior Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said, “I condemn the incident and appeal to public not to take law into their own hands. People of Bengal are furious against TMC and Abhishek Banerjee. We need to make Bengal’s politics violence-free.”Baruipur SP Shubhendra Kumar said cops and central force personnel were sent the moment information of the assault was received. “We are initiating steps to identify those behind the attack and will take necessary action against them,” he said.Once he returned to Kolkata, Abhishek was taken to a private hospital on EM Bypass but was wheeled out within minutes and shifted to another private hospital in south Kolkata. “He is not being treated here due to orders from higher-ups. We are moving him to a different hospital,” said former CM Mamata Banerjee, who had rushed to the Bypass hospital along with Abhishek’s mother. The hospital did not respond to the allegations.Late at night, Abhishek was shifted to his home. “We have been forced to shift him from hospital to home as the hospital authorities said they are under threat. We are forced to make a mini hospital at his home under our family physician. I don’t know what kind of a Bengal we are living in now where opposition members don’t even have the right to get treatment. Doctors had admitted him in ITU but were forced to release him under threat from police. I saw a senior hospital administrator get a threat call from DC South to not allow him admission,” said Mamata Banerjee, alleging that even the first hospital had refused him admission under threat.Mamata said Trinamool workers will be on the road from Sunday to protest the attack. “I will also be on the road from June 2 at RR Avenue,” she said.One of the protesters cited lack of development in the area for his ire, claiming only roads near Trinamool netas’ houses had been developed in the past few years. Another alleged that the deceased Trinamool worker was actually a local goon who had died of drug overdose.A woman said, “If Abhishek truly cared, he would have stood beside the family of the RG Kar victim as well.”