Panchayat poll violence: 133 from Bengal given shelter in Assam, says Himanta

The Trinamool Congress denounced Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday after he said over 100 people from West Bengal have taken shelter in his state following panchayat election violence in their state.

The Trinamool Congress, which rules West Bengal, condemned Sarma after he said that these people had been provided shelter in a relief camp and added they would get all humanitarian aid.

Even as West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari thanked Sarma for hosting the BJP activists, West Bengal cabinet minister Shashi Panja accused the Assam chief minister of creating panic.

On Monday, 133 individuals who feared for their lives due to violence in West Bengal sought refuge in Dhubri district of Assam, Sarma tweeted.

“We have provided them with shelter in a relief camp as well as food and medical assistance.”

Sarma flayed

Panja blasted Sarma over the people left out of the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

“@himantabiswa must be nauseated from the dizzying heights of self-righteousness and misplaced moral superiority! Before raising a false alarm and creating a sense of panic, he should consider the fate of the 1.9 million residents of Assam who were rendered stateless due to NRC,” Panja wrote.

Violence in West Bengals during the panchayat polls on Saturday claimed 15 lives. Eleven of those killed were affiliated with the Triinamool.

(With agency inputs)