West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party workers were on Thursday manhandled in Darjeeling allegedly by a rebel group of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh was forced to cancel a public meeting after party workers were punched, kicked and beaten up with sticks and umbrellas, according to the Hindustan Times.
The agitators were heard shouting “Long live Benoy Tamang” and “BJP go back”. The group was one of the supporters of expelled GJM leader Tamang.
The BJP leaders were in the town to address a public meeting, which Tamang’s supporters wanted to block. They were also chased and beaten up when they tried to go to the police station. Ghosh later lodged a complaint at a local police station.
“The entire episode was scripted in Kolkata,” said Ghosh, in a reference to the Mamata Banerjee government, which supports Tamang.
On September 26, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung called off the 104-day strike in Darjeeling in its agitation for a separate state of Gorkhhaland. The West Bengal government has resisted the demand while the BJP has been silent, and thus triggering resentment among local groups.
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