Kolkata: West Bengal's Sandeshkhali, which has been rocked by protests over alleged atrocities on villagers by TMC leaders, continued to remain tense on Friday even as a BJP central team and a Congress delegation are scheduled to visit the area during the day. The police have been patrolling the area and have put up barricades to stop the visit of political leaders to the area, apprehending that it might worsen the situation.
Six BJP MPs, including five women, are scheduled to visit Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district this afternoon and they alleged that the law and order there was "non-existent". BJP president J P Nadda has constituted the six-member committee of party MPs to visit Sandeshkhali where women have been protesting against alleged atrocities by local TMC leaders.
Union ministers Pratima Bhoumik, Annapurna Devi, who is the committee's convener, Sunita Duggal, Kavita Patidar, Sangeeta Yadav and Brij Lal, a former Uttar Pradesh DGP, are members of the panel. "We hope the police won't stop us from visiting the area. The state government is trying to hide the truth. What is going on in Sandeshkhali is a spine-chilling," Annapurna Devi said.
She also alleged that democracy is "threatened" and democratic rights are "being snatched" in the area. "The ruling TMC and its goons have unleashed a reign of terror in the area," Annapurna Devi said. Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha and state unit president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is also scheduled to visit the area this afternoon.
A large number of women in the locality accused Trinamool Congress strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of "land-grab and sexually assaulting" them under coercion. Shajahan has been absconding after a mob, allegedly affiliated to him, attacked Enforcement Directorate officials who had gone to search his premises in connection with a ration scam on January 5.
The TMC declined to attach much importance to the visits and said that such political trips are "aimed at vitiating the situation". "The BJP should send teams to Uttar Pradesh, where crimes against women are rampant. And for the Congress, it is a B-team of the BJP in Bengal," TMC leader Kunal Ghosh claimed.
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