‘Police Stood Like Dolls’: TMC-BJP Violence Rocks Baranagar
Hoardings of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata (Image Nirendra Dev)
Baranagar Assembly seat — historic Jyoti Basu stronghold — descends into poster-war clashes ahead of West Bengal elections. BJP nominee Ghosh accuses TMC of orchestrating violence to mask impending defeat.
By NIRENDRA DEV
Kolkata, March 22, 2026 — Violence broke out between Trinamool Congress and BJP workers in Baranagar ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, with BJP nominee Sajal Ghosh accusing police of complete inaction.
“There was violence because Trinamool Congress has realised they will lose this election,” Ghosh told TV journalists. “Scores of TMC councillors came to the spot — but my tiger-like BJP workers raised ‘Go back’ slogans and held their ground.”
Clashes erupted over campaign posters, with both sides accusing “outsiders” of causing disruptions. Central forces were deployed after roughly an hour to disperse the crowds peacefully.
Baranagar Assembly constituency, part of the Dum Dum Lok Sabha segment, carries significant political history. Between 1951 and 1971, the seat was represented by CPI-M stalwart Jyoti Basu. Today it is held by actress-turned-politician Sayantika Banerjee, who is contesting again for TMC. Ghosh is the BJP challenger.
Ghosh went further, claiming that sitting MP Saugata Roy had privately warned TMC workers that the party would not win this time — and that desperation over the looming defeat had triggered the poster-war violence.
“The violence worked in favour of TMC before. This time it will not. The ground underneath has moved very fast,” he said.
The incident reflects a broader pattern. West Bengal, which once gave the world Tagore, Vivekananda, Nazrul Islam, Satyajit Ray and Amartya Sen, is now increasingly associated nationally with political killings, capital flight and social intimidation — a state caught between its glorious intellectual past and a turbulent present.
Separately, Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee used an Eid gathering at Kolkata’s Red Road to intensify her campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls — alleging it was being used to delete voters from “particularly one community.”
Addressing thousands of worshippers alongside party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, she said the fight against large-scale voter deletions would continue unabated.
“We won’t allow Modiji to snatch away people’s voting rights,” Mamata declared, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of orchestrating the deletions. She added that her party had already moved court and would sustain its protests through the run-up to the polls — the first election since 2011 that TMC faces under genuine pressure.
“Baranagar constituency is part of Dum Dum Lok Sabha. Senior parliamentarian Saugata Roy is the sitting MP.
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