Locals hurl eggs and stones at Abhishek Banerjee, manhandle him in Sonarpur; TMC cries foul

Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary and Member of Parliament Abhishek Banerjee faced a violent protest from locals during his visit to Sonarpur in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district on Saturday. An agitated crowd hurled eggs at Banerjee and threw stones at his convoy as he arrived to meet the families of victims affected by recent post-poll violence in West Bengal, said senior police officials.

The local police deployment struggled to contain the sudden outburst of public anger, which led to intense security skirmishes and forced the MP’s security personnel to form a protective cordon around him to prevent injuries.

‘Orchestrated assault, BJP-engineered,’ alleges Banerjee

Addressing the media after the incident, Banerjee labelled the incident as a completely orchestrated assault and accused the ruling BJP of engineering it.

The TMC leadership has demanded an immediate inquiry into the intelligence failure that left the high-profile MP exposed to a stone-pelting crowd. The violence in Sonarpur underscores the volatile political landscape in West Bengal, which continues to simmer with post-electoral friction.

‘Spontaneous manifestation of public anger,’ says BJP, denies any role

The BJP vehemently denied Banerjee’s allegations and said the protests were a spontaneous manifestation of public anger against the TMC leadership.

Local police have since deployed massive reinforcements, including anti-riot squads, to conduct flag marches and restore order in the sensitive pockets of Sonarpur.

The confrontation is set to further strain the law-and-order situation as TMC vowed to hit the streets in protest against the attack.

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Security personnel made the TMC leader wear a helmet to prevent any injuries in attack. Visuals from the scene showed security personnel trying to escort Banerjee safely as tensions escalated.

Banerjee further claimed that the attackers intended to kill him and said the entire incident had been captured on camera. “They wanted to kill me. The whole incident has been captured on camera. We will definitely let the High Court know about this. We will also let the Governor know about this. I will definitely move to court,” he said.

Claiming that he narrowly escaped serious injury, the TMC MP alleged an absence of police personnel at the spot. “There is no police presence at the spot. They want to kill us. Let them do so. My dead body may be recovered from here, but I am not leaving the area,” he said.

Banerjee said he would not leave until adequate security arrangements were made. “I will not move out from here till police and forces ensure security here. They are trying to break the house, and they want to kill me,” he alleged.

Police personnel and central forces later reached the spot and rescued Banerjee amid the tense situation.

Former CM Mamata Banerjee reacted strongly to the incident and wrote in a post on X, “Rulers became killers – shame on you BJP.”

Reacting to the attack on TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, BJP MLA Sanjay Singh said, “You may call it an attack or an expression of public anger, but it is the result of the resentment among the people here. Such an incident is condemnable, and the Bharatiya Janata Party does not support it...”