Bengal: Suvendu alleges police assaulted him; TMC MP claims BJP leader expert in ‘acting’

Kolkata, Mar 25 (PTI) A day after BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari alleged that he was manhandled by the police during his visit to a land subsidence-hit area in West Bengal’s Howrah district, senior TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee on Tuesday claimed that the BJP MLA is a “skilled actor”.

Banerjee also wondered how could someone hit the leader of the opposition as he is “always surrounded” by central force personnel.

The TMC MP said he would have been happy had Adhikari been really manhandled.

Adhikari on Monday went to Belgachhia village to meet residents affected by a recent land subsidence. The police, however, allegedly blocked his entry to the area leading to a scuffle. The BJP leader accused a sub-inspector of hitting him in the melee, showing a bleeding hand to substantiate his claims.

Asked about Adhikari's claims, Banerjee told reporters in Delhi: "Suvendu Adhikari is fond of staging dramas and he is proficient in acting skill. Do you think someone, who is always surrounded by CISF personnel, can he be hit by anyone?” Alleging that the BJP leader concocted a lie, the TMC MP said, "Had Suvendu been really manhandled, I would have been a happy person." BJP general secretary Jagannath Chattopadhyay termed Banerjee's comment about Adhikari as “disgraceful, autocratic, undemocratic and revealing the true face of TMC".

Former Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh claimed that the attack on Adhilkari shows even the Leader Of the Opposition is not safe in Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal a policeman can physically hit a leader during a visit.

The subsidence in Belgachhia led to the collapse of several houses, affecting about 15,000 residents near a garbage dump and a lake. Due to the calamity, a one-km water pipeline was ruptured, leading to acute water shortage in several wards of Howrah Municipal Corporation.

The authorities are engaged in restoring the situation. PTI