Tense Standoff in Kolkata: Protesters, BJP Workers Hurl Charges Amid Heavy Police Presence
BJP workers storm protest site as tensions reach boiling point.
A high-voltage confrontation erupted late Monday night outside the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer’s office in central Kolkata when approximately fifty BJP workers descended upon the venue where members of the BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee had been staging a prolonged sit-in demonstration since Monday afternoon.
The booth-level officers, organised under the BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee, were protesting what they described as intolerable workload and inhuman pressure imposed during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Their agitation had effectively confined Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal and several senior officials inside the building, with protesters demanding an immediate audience to address their grievances, including the tragic suicides of at least three BLOs reportedly driven by extreme work-related stress during door-to-door enumeration.
The atmosphere turned explosive around 11 pm when BJP workers, led by Kolkata Municipal Corporation Councillor Sajal Ghosh, marched to the spot raising slogans accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress of orchestrating a deliberate campaign to obstruct the voter list revision by intimidating and harassing Election Commission personnel.
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In response, the protesting BLOs launched fierce counter-slogans, alleging that the BJP was acting in collusion with the Election Commission to systematically delete names of legitimate voters, particularly from minority and marginalised communities, and accused the arriving activists of attempting to provoke and terrorise peaceful demonstrators who were merely seeking redressal of genuine occupational hardships.
A large police contingent under Deputy Commissioner (Central) Indira Mukherjee swiftly formed a cordon between the rival groups to avert any physical clash. After prolonged verbal exchanges conducted under floodlights and in full view of media personnel, CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal and other trapped officials were safely escorted out of the building around 11:40 pm. With the officials’ departure secured, BJP leader Sajal Ghosh declared that their intervention had successfully countered alleged Trinamool harassment, and the party workers peacefully dispersed shortly thereafter.
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