BJP: Incident of slapping of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee a result of Trinamool internal feud

The BJP criticised the incident of slapping of TMC youth wing president and MP Abhishek Banerjee during a public meeting in East Midnapore district and described it as a result of the party's internal feud.

"We (BJP) does not support such incidents. We condemn the incident because we believe there cannot be any violence in politics," BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said.

"But I think TMC leadership should introspect the incident. Reports are coming that it's the job of an insider. We know that Midnapore is an area where there is a tussle between the former TMC youth president versus the current one which is Abhishek Banerjee. And it seems in that tussle between the leadership one of the supporters of the former has slapped him. It clearly shows there is a civil war," Singh said.

Alleging that the incident clearly showed that the deteriorating law and order system in the state, BJP MLA in the Bengal Assembly Samik Bhattacharya too condemned the incident.

"If an MP is attacked on the dais during a public meeting in such a manner it clearly shows the law and order situation in the state," Bhattacharya said.

BJP's state president Rahul Sinha supported Bhattacharya's comment and termed the incident as a result of the internal feud of the TMC.

"The incident has brought forth the factional feud of Trinamool Congress and also showed how bad the law and order situation is in West Bengal. We do not support the incident, but also condemn the way the person, who attacked Abhishek Banerjee, was beaten up," he said.

Demanding a quick probe into the incident to reveal the identity of the person who attacked Banerjee, Singh said that the youth could also be a victim of the Saradha scam.

Congress' state president Adhir Chowdhury said that the incident was "got-up" and said, "It's nothing but the internal conflict of the party that is surfacing out. It's got-up. If the person is not of their party's, then how could be manage to get up to the dais amid a meeting when the party MP was delivering his speech. The attacker is very much a TMC worker and this is a result of their factional feud. This will eat up the party like a Frankenstein," Chowdhury said.

The opposition Left Front also criticised the incident. "It is a glaring display of intra-party squabble," LF Chairman Biman Bose said while reacting to the incident.

"Such incidents will increase becasue of the TMC's failure to govern the state," Bose observed. CPI(M) MP Md Salim said, "The incident is unexpected. It is not in our culture. We have not inherited this in a democracy. We can't support this. Rules, principles and ethics are fast losing their value here."