Did TMC 'goons' attack ABVP Kolkata office in retaliation against Didi's loss in Nandigram?

The ABVP said that they are facing this issue across Bengal and today's attack was being planned from yesterday when 150 bikes circled their office
Image for representational purpose only
Image for representational purpose only

Student leaders of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) alleged that their state office in Kolkata, was attacked by Trinamool Congress "goons" on Monday, right after the Election Commission officially declared the results of the Assembly Elections of the state.

The Trinamool Congress romped home in West Bengal, pocketing 213 of the 292 assembly seats that went to polls and secured a third straight term in office, according to the final results announced by the Election Commission. But Mamata herself lost to Shuvendu Adhikari by 1,936 votes. The Mamata Banerjee-led party's main challenger, the BJP, bagged 77 seats, while the ISF, which contested with the symbol of the Rashtriya Secular Majlis Party, and an Independent, managed one seat each.

"Since ABVP calls out the politics of hate by Mamata Banerjee and her minions, TMC goons resorted to violence and vandalised our office. After coming back to power, this is how TMC goons plan to curb dissent," said a tweet from the ABVP which also gave a blow-by-blow account of the incident. "More than 20 TMC goons barged into ABVP Office and attacked karyakartas including National Joint Organising Secretary Shriniwas, Eastern Zonal Organising Secretary Govinda Nayak, Zonal Joint Organising Secretary Apangshu Sekhar Shil and CWC member Suman Chandra Das. After breaking the idols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses to pieces, the TMC goons further vandalised the portraits of thought leaders and national figures like Rabindranath Tagore, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Subhash Chandra Bose and others. The attackers shouted pro-Mamata Banerjee slogans and threatened the ABVP activists and office-bearers with similar assaults in the times to come. They said that Mamata Banerjee’s defeat in Nandigram had made the TMC cadres very resentful of those responsible for her loss and that such ‘traitors’ would not be allowed to live in Bengal for long," said the ABVP.

Nidhi Tripathi, National General Secretary, ABVP, said, “While the office-bearers and activists, who suffered a violent attack by the TMC goons at ABVP’s Kolkata office are now safe, the fanatically violent streak adopted by the West Bengal Chief Minister and her party goons is extremely disconcerting and condemnable. In the coming times, we, as the torchbearers of nationalism, must remain alert and stand shoulder to shoulder in the fight to salvage democracy in Bengal. The violent attack on ABVP activists by Mamata Banerjee’s goons is a portent of steep challenges in the long-run and we must prepare for a long and arduous struggle.”

They also alleged that around 150 TMC cadres were seen engaging in acts of hooliganism outside ABVP’s Kolkata office, alleged the student organisation. "This makes us believe today’s attack was preplanned and is only a glimpse of what the next five years hold in store for people who oppose Mamata Banerjee and her politics. More than 100 TMC cadres are still surrounding ABVP’s Kolkata office," said ABVP.

The TMC is yet to officially respond to this claim. 

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