Kolkata: A TMC office, the residences of a former MLA and councillor, and a CPI(M)-built martyrs' memorial were allegedly vandalised in south Kolkata's Jadavpur, with the Trinamool Congress and the Left separately accusing BJP workers of involvement, a charge denied by the saffron party.
Former Jadavpur MLA Debabrata Majumdar on Sunday alleged that his residence at Bijoygarh was attacked by a group of around 100-150 people whom he described as 'outsiders' who had joined the BJP recently.
He claimed that the group, allegedly carrying arms, moved through several areas on motorcycles on Saturday night and vandalised TMC party offices and other places before reaching his residence, where they allegedly pelted stones and broke window panes.
Former TMC councillor of ward 96 Basundhara Goswami alleged that her house was also ransacked by members of a motorcycle-borne group.
She claimed that the group was armed and carried BJP flags.
"The BJP is trying to terrorise opposition parties, but they cannot keep us indoors," she said.
A TMC office at Bagha Jatin was allegedly ransacked, with party flags found lying on the ground and a memorial dedicated to party workers damaged.
In Anandapalli, a TMC party flag was allegedly torn, and a CPI(M) memorial dedicated to martyrs of the 1960s was vandalised, the party alleged.
Senior TMC leader Baiswanor Chattopadhyay alleged that the BJP was using 'terror tactics' to create panic among the party's supporters.
"Miscreants sheltered by the BJP went on a rampage. But the people of Jadavpur will not support such hooliganism," he said.
CPI(M) state committee member Sudip Sengupta, addressing a gathering through a microphone, appealed to BJP leaders and workers in the area to restrain those involved in the violence.
"We request BJP leaders and workers who genuinely practise politics to restrain your hooligans. They do not know the tradition of Jadavpur or the soil of Jadavpur," Sengupta said.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya rejected any connection between his party and the incidents, alleging that the violence was the result of an internal dispute within the TMC.
"The TMC knows very well that this is a manifestation of its own internal division. None of our activists was involved. I will request Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to ensure police take action against any hooliganism as the BJP has zero tolerance for any such acts," he said.
Union minister and senior BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar also said the party did not believe in violence and that none of its activists was involved in the incidents.
"If there are any newly converted BJP workers from TMC, we will not shelter them. A miscreant is a miscreant," he said.
CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said if the BJP sought to "unleash a reign of terror" in the constituency, the party would oppose it, claiming that it had a strong support base in the Jadavpur-Bijoygarh belt.
Jadavpur BJP MLA Sarbari Mukherjee said the vandalisation was the fallout of an internal dispute between the camps of Debabrata Majumdar and Basundhara Goswami and claimed that none of her party's workers was involved.