The BJP today took out rallies, burnt effigies of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in various parts of the state and staged a sit-in here in protest against the attack on its state unit chief Dileep Ghosh in Darjeeling.
A BJP delegation, led by the party's national secretary, Rahul Sinha, met West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi at the Raj Bhavan here and submitted a memorandum to him, demanding an immediate arrest of those involved in the attack on Ghosh.
Sinha also led a BJP rally at Hazra Road, near Banerjee's residence, and demanded a statement from the chief minister on the incident which took place yesterday.
Banerjee's effigies were burnt in various parts of the state by BJP supporters, who shouted slogans demanding "restoration of democracy" in the state. They also staged a sit-in on the busy Hazra Road.
Rallies were taken out in various parts of the state by BJP workers, demanding the arrest of the culprits.
The Darjeeling police arrested two men in the early hours today for their alleged involvement in the assault on BJP workers during a 'Vijaya Sammelani' meeting called by Ghosh in Darjeeling yesterday.
Ghosh himself was allegedly roughed up and had to cancel the meeting because of the ensuing chaos.
Darjeeling Superintendent of Police (SP) Akhilesh Chaturvedi said the two arrested accused were nabbed from Lebong, which is adjacent to Darjeeling town, at around 3 am during a night-long search by the police.
They were identified as Chandan Thapa and Santai Gurung, both members of the GJM Yuva Morcha, he said, adding that they were produced before the Darjeeling district court during the day and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
For the last two days, agitators in Darjeeling have been demanding that Ghosh and his BJP team leave the hills immediately and refrain from disturbing the "peace and stability" in the region. The BJP leaders have also been shown black flags by various hill parties.
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) leadership in the state meanwhile accused the BJP of trying to disturb the peace in the hills and said it would take out rallies across the state tomorrow to counter the saffron party and burn effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Tomorrow, from 1 pm to 2 pm, we will hold protest rallies and burn effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The central government is helping the divisive forces in the hills," TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee told reporters.
"When peace has returned to the hills, the BJP is trying to disturb it. It is helping a person (Bimal Gurung), who has cases under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) lodged against him. If it tries to disturb the peace, the people of Bengal will never forgive it," he said.
Ghosh, who left for Sikkim along with the BJP team today, earlier told reporters in Darjeeling that he would convey all the demands related to the hills to the Centre.
To questions on whether he would meet Gurung, who is on the run, Ghosh said the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supremo had rung him up and criticised the attack on him.
"I told him (Gurung) that democracy in the hills was very crucial. But I have no intention of meeting Gurung. I am not aware of his whereabouts and he is under the police scanner," he added.
Gurung, in an audio message from his hideout, condemned the attack on the BJP workers.
"Those behind the attack should immediately be arrested. Those against a separate state of Gorkhaland have attacked the BJP delegation. We condemn it," he said.
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