BJP CM Hopeful Suvendu Adhikari's Aide Shot Dead as Violence Continues in Post-Poll Bengal

Kolkata: The aide of Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Bengal chief-minister hopeful, Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead in the Doharia area of Madhyamgram, in the northwestern fringes just adjacent to Kolkata.

Chandranath Rath was shot point blank. Local media has reported that his car was intercepted by miscreants on a motorcycle just after 10 pm on May 6. Rath died on the spot, and the car's driver is admitted with serious injuries at the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata.

The Bengali language paper Anandabazar Patrika reported Adhikari as having said that Rath was murdered in cold blood "after several days of surveillance and careful planning." He added that he had spoken with West Bengal Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar about this but wanted to withhold details in the interest of the ongoing investigation.

Adhikari visited the hospital in Madhyamgram, where he was accompanied by Rath's wife and also, BJP Union minister Sukanta Majumdar. Adhikari also said that the BJP would bear all expenses related to the treatment of the injured and support for the deceased’s family.

In 2013, incidentally, Adhikari's former personal assistant Pradip Jha was found dead on Kolkata's Strand Road. At the time, Adhikari was with the TMC. In 2018, Adhikari's security guard Shubhabrata Chakraborty passed away, allegedly by suicide, at a police barrack. In 2021, police began a murder investigation into the case. In the same year, 2021, Adhikari's Nandigram counting agent, Pulak Lahiri, was found dead.

Indian Express quoted Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya as having told reporters: “This was expected. How low can they get? I have said that once the government goes, the Governor has to take responsibility. The TMC… stooped so low that they killed Suvendu Adhikari’s PA. Earlier, they have attacked our leaders including Suvendu, Dilip Ghosh and others. This is a very unfortunate incident. Even his mother is part of our party. Killing the Leader of Opposition’s PA is a message. Let the people decide. We will take legal steps.”

The TMC, in a statement on X, said, “We strongly condemn the brutal murder of Chandranath Rath in Madhyamgram tonight, along with the killing of three other TMC workers in incidents of post-poll violence allegedly carried out by BJP-backed miscreants over the last three days, despite the Model Code of Conduct being in force.”

“We demand the strongest possible action in this matter, including a court-monitored CBI investigation so that those responsible are identified and brought to justice without delay. Violence and political killings have no place in a democracy and the guilty must be held accountable at the earliest,” the TMC said.

Violence has been widespread and visible in the three days since BJP was elected to power in Bengal. The party has claimed that TMC workers are masquerading as BJP members and supporters to threaten, physically intimidate and coerce other TMC leaders because of internal anger.

“It has come to our notice that elements of the Trinamool's so-called ‘Gunda Vahini’ are attempting to impersonate BJP workers to mislead people and create disorder,” the party said in a statement on X.

“The BJP will not tolerate such deception. Anyone found engaging in impersonation, intimidation, or taking the law into their own hands will face strict legal consequences. The full force of the law will be brought to bear against these criminal elements,” the statement added.

“I have told the home secretary that there will be no Trinamoolikaran of the BJP. I have spoken to the DGP, the Kolkata Police commissioner and senior police officers to convey the party’s stand,” state BJP president Bhattacharya told reporters at Nabanna after a meeting with top police and bureaucracy at the state secretariat on May 6, according to The Telegraph.

The paper claimed that by “Trinamoolikaran”, Bhattacharya was referring to the violence after the 2021 assembly elections in which over 50 BJP workers were allegedly killed by Trinamool goons, several women raped and thousands of BJP workers displaced.

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