West Bengal violence: BJP terms TMC govt as 'fascist and dictatorial'

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday stepped up its attack against TMC over violence in its protest march in Kolkata and termed Trinamool Congress party in the state as “fascist and dictatorial” mindset. 

BJP spokesman Zafar Islam accused Mamata Banerjee of trying to use police force to put an end to the peaceful protest against corruption. Banerjee is the leader of the TMC and the chief minister of West Bengal.

''Bengal cannot be the dictatorship of the TMC and its leader Mamata Banerjee,'' Islam stated during a press conference at the BJP headquarters alongside BJP leaders Anirban Ganguly and Saumitra Khan.

During the press conference, Ganguly also played a video of the event and said that the "Kolkata Police were authorized to hurl stones on a nonviolent political protest.

"Abhishek Banerjee's claim that he would have shot the attackers in the head if he had been there at the scene where the vandals burned a police vehicle on fire demonstrated the scope of "the extra-constitutional authority in West Bengal," Ganguly added.
 
He further asserted that such statements from an elected member of the parliament have never been made, adding, ''This reveals the mentality of him and his aunt''.

They lack respect for the constitution and have a fascist and authoritarian mentality.

He declared, "They won't put up with any democratic opposition." Ganguly continued, "The TMC government is operating as a fascist and authoritarian administration under Mamata and Abhishek." Khan, a West Bengal-based BJP member who echoed similar thoughts, referred to the TMC as a "mafia party" involved in numerous frauds.

He also claimed that the TMC incited violence and attacked BJP members at the gathering using its employees. 

The opposition party asserted that the police had hurt over a thousand of its members and claimed that Banerjee had committed more atrocities than the communist groups. 

In response, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed on Wednesday that the BJP had sent goons carrying bombs into Bengal from outside for the protest.

She said that the police might have shot at the aggressive BJP protesters, but her administration showed restraint. 

On Tuesday, BJP supporters clashed with the police in an attempt to get past barricades placed to prevent them from marching towards the West Bengal secretariat, or "Nabanna," turning parts of Kolkata and the Howrah district into a battlefield.