West Bengal: A suspicious object was found outside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Kolkata today (June 16). The police team, bomb squad and dog squad were present at the spot.
A search operation is underway involving all three units to determine the nature of the object and ensure safety. The incident has raised concerns and caused heightened security around the BJP office.
Ravi Shankar Prasad on Bengal violence
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "I have to say only one thing. Elections are held in the whole country, why is there violence only in Bengal after the elections? There was violence during the Gram Panchayat elections and Vidhan Sabha elections too. Today again there is violence. Elections were held in the whole country, and nowhere else violence took place like this. What is the reason that our workers are scared, the public is scared, this is a very serious matter. And if Mamata Banerjee believes in democracy, then she will have to answer for this."
"This may or may not be a bomb. However, it looks like it is a bomb. If a bomb-like object is found in Central Avenue, then the police should be active and the bomb squad should be here. But where is the police?", said BJP leader Tamoghna Ghosh.
Suspicious object is not bomb
BJP central team in Kolkata over 'post-poll violence'
A four-member central team of the BJP, including senior leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Biplab Kumar Deb, arrived in Kolkata on Sunday to take stock of the situation after alleged violence against saffron party workers in West Bengal after the Lok Sabha elections.
Prasad claimed that the people of the state along with the BJP party workers were afraid and apprehensive over the alleged post-poll violence taking place in the state.
"Elections were held across the country, but violence has taken place only in West Bengal," he told reporters at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport upon their arrival to the city on a two-day visit.
"If Mamata ji believes in democracy, she has to reply to this," Prasad, a former Union minister, said.
Deb, a former chief minister of Tripura, claimed that there has not been any political violence in the northeastern state since the BJP came to power there.
"We will speak to the victims and take stock of the situation during our two-day stay in West Bengal," he said.
The BJP has alleged that its workers and supporters were being subjected to violence and intimidation in different parts of West Bengal by ruling Trinamool Congress supporters after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has won 12 of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, while the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC emerged victorious in 29 seats and the Congress bagged one.
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