Last Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party engaged in a major confrontation with the Trinamool-led state government in West Bengal, attempti...
Last Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party engaged in a major confrontation with the Trinamool-led state government in West Bengal, attempting to get its workers to blockade the main secretariat, Nobanno. The march quickly became violent as BJP workers hurled stones and bricks at police officials and sett fire to tyres, reported the Indian Express. Bombs were also used in Howrah, the town neighbouring Kolkata in which Nobanno is based, reported Bartaman.
The rally underlined the BJP’s strength in the state, where it has gone from being a virtual non-entity to the main opposition party in just a matter of a few years. It also highlighted how the BJP is going to approach the Assembly elections, scheduled in the first half of 2021: the saffron party will depend on the national high command while handing the state unit a relatively minor role.
The Thursday action, for example, was led by Tejasvi Surya, president of the BJP youth wing and a member of parliaments representing a constituency in Bengaluru. As would be expected, Surya is a non-entity in West Bengal. At the same time, the older Bengal leadership had a distinctly muted role. State president Dilip Ghosh was the lone senior leader on display as he led a march from...
