New Delhi [India], August 7 :BJP National President and Union Minister JP Nadda on Thursday took a jibe at the Mamata Banerjee led West Bengal government over the alleged attack on the West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari's convoy in Cooch Beehar by goons of the Trinamool Congress Party stating that it wasn't just an attack on an elected representative, but on the democracy itself.
Adhikari on Tuesday alleged that his convoy was attacked in Cooch Behar district, and claimed the situation was grave enough that he might not have survived had he not been travelling in a bulletproof vehicle.
In a post on social media X, Nadda wrote that it was alarming how the "brazen assault" took place in the presence of the state police and reflected the broken law and order under the West Bengal government.
"I strongly condemn the attack on West Bengal Leader of the Opposition, Shri Suvendu Adhikari's convoy in Cooch Behar by TMC goons. What's even more alarming is that this brazen assault took place in the presence of state police, a telling reflection of the complete breakdown of law and order under Mamata Banerjee's government.
This wasn't just an attack on an elected representative; it was an attack on democracy itself," the post read.
Nadda also spoke to Adhikari and took stock of the situation.
"I spoke to Shri Suvendu Adhikari and took stock of the situation. If the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal isn't safe, one can only imagine the plight of the common people.
"Mamata Banerjee must be held accountable for fostering this culture of lawlessness and political violence," the post read.
A day earlier, workers and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a 'slipper protest' in Howrah to register their anger over the alleged attack.
The protesters, carrying slippers in hand, marched to the local police station, accusing the Bengal Police of inaction and bias under the Mamata Banerjee-led government.
BJP leader Pramod Singh, speaking at the protest, said, "Bengal police is Mamata Banerjee's 'hawai chappal'. They kept standing there silently while the Rohingyas and Bangladeshi Muslims kept on creating a ruckus. That is why we are taking slippers with us to the police station, because we want to show them these slippers as a mirror".
Meanwhile, reacting to the alleged attack BJP leader Ashok Dinda on Wednesday termed the arrests made so far as "an eyewash" and blamed Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders for orchestrating the violence.
Speaking to ANI in Kolkata, Dinda accused TMC MLA Udayan Guha of leading the mob that targeted Adhikari's convoy and alleged that the police had deliberately refrained from arresting him.
He said, "The seven people who have been arrested are just an eyewash. This is a complete failure of the police administration. Udayan Guha, who is an MLA, was leading it; he has not been arrested yet. The police do not have the courage, even the SP there does not have the courage because Udayan Guha is Mamata's special man... All these are TMC people and Rohingyas. Some people have been brought from Bangladesh..."