Protests took place in West Bengal in several places, including in front of the state BJP office in Hastings, Kolkata.
Supporters of the party staged protests in Hastings for hours demanding change of candidates in several seats. He was upset with the candidates in the Panchala, Udayanarayanpur and Raidih assembly seats. Senior leaders like Mukul Roy, MPs Arjun Singh and Shivprakash faced protesters who broke barricades and also indulged in violence. Party offices were attacked in districts such as Hooghly.
On Sunday, BJP supporters in Singur protested against the nomination of 88-year-old Rabindranath Bhattacharya, a four-time Trinamool Congress MLA who had joined the BJP a few days earlier. Most of the supporters who were protesting were against the nomination of leaders joining the party from TMC.
State spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said the protests are isolated incidents and said the BJP is growing as the party has to deal with some “initial problems”. Former Kolkata Mayor Sowan Chatterjee and his aide Baisakhi Banerjee resigned from the BJP. Mr. Chatterjee, also a former minister in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet, was one of the heavyweight TMC leaders who joined the BJP. The party on Sunday announced candidates for 63 of the 75 seats going to the third and fourth phase elections.
Debashree Roy, a two-time TMC MLA, left the party on Monday after not being given a ticket.
The actor-turned-TMC state president wrote that he would not be associated with the party.
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