Supporters of West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress and the BJP clashed outside the Bangaon municipality office on Tuesday, with bombs thrown during a dispute over a trust vote to decide control of the civic body.

The clash

Police said the bombs were hurled after a scuffle between members of the two parties. There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC were imposed and Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed; police patrolled the area and kept rival supporters apart. The BJP said police fired tear gas shells and used batons against its members.

Bangaon, 80 km from Kolkata, is in North 24 Parganas district, which has seen repeated clashes between the two parties since the Lok Sabha results in May. At least two people have been killed in the Bhatpara-Kankinara area, part of the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat, where violence has grown since Arjun Singh left the TMC, joined the BJP and won the seat.

The dispute over the vote

Municipality chairman Sankar Adya of the TMC was required to show he had a majority on the 22-member board. The TMC held 19 seats until about a fortnight earlier, when 14 of its councillors went over to the BJP; three later returned. The Congress and the CPI(M) hold one seat each. A TMC woman councillor had complained to police that two BJP councillors, Himadri Mondal and Kartik Mondal, tried to abduct her. The two said they had anticipatory bail but could show police only photos of the order on their phones, and were not allowed into the building. The BJP said they were deliberately kept out, then later went in, and that 11 of its councillors voted in the presence of the executive officer, giving it victory.

Jyotipriya Mallick, a state minister who heads the TMC in the district, said the pair entered after the scheduled time, that the TMC kept control of the board, and that the BJP started the violence. Executive officer Gourango Biswas said the vote was held on schedule and the BJP councillors’ no-confidence motion against Adya failed because they were absent; the voting time had been pushed back by half an hour, to 3.30 pm, because of the trouble outside.

See also: BJP | Election news

Originally published on 17 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us