NEW DELHI: A four-member fact-finding committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) submitted a detailed report on post-poll violence in West Bengal to the party’s national president, JP Nadda, earlier on Friday.
The committee, led by Member of Parliament Biplab Kumar Deb, was tasked with investigating the alleged political violence and administrative malpractices in the state.
In their report, the committee made several key recommendations to address the situation, including the localised deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and securing BJP offices in the state. They suggested extending the tenure of CAPF and approaching the Supreme Court and High Court for appropriate relief, particularly where investigations should be undertaken by Central agencies or where court intervention is required to enable BJP workers to return home safely.
The committee also called for all relevant commissions to take cognizance of the violence and award compensation in appropriate cases. They recommended punitive action against bureaucrats who act as facilitators of inhumane orders from the ruling dispensation, such as cutting off water supply, deshelving roads, blocking sanitation, and dumping garbage in areas that voted against the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Additionally, they suggested providing financial assistance to families severely affected by the violence.
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In a social media announcement, Tripura’s former Chief Minister and MP Biplab Kumar Deb stated, “The representatives of the Fact Finding Committee have handed over the document and report to Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda on Friday, which contains the real picture of political brutality and administrative terror of Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.”
The report presents a grim portrayal of the political environment in West Bengal, accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her administration of perpetuating a “black chapter of political revenge by using the government system and killing the constitution and democracy.”
The findings detail numerous instances of violence and intimidation, allegedly orchestrated by Trinamool Congress-affiliated groups targeting opposition party workers and voters.
Describing a climate of “open intimidation, threats, violence, and attacks by Trinamool-backed goons,” the report calls the recent elections in Bengal a “very shameful election.”
Further in his post on ‘X’, Deb wrote, “The goons supported by the TMC have spread violence in the state. The administration has been politicized and these people have made the lives of the common people difficult.”
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The report criticises Mamata Banerjee, stating, “What happened under a woman Chief Minister is very shameful…to whom the status of women is not important, winning elections is important.”
The committee’s investigation included a visit to West Bengal on June 17, where they met with victims of alleged post-poll violence at the BJP’s party office in Amtala, South 24 Parganas. The team, comprising former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, and party MPs Biplab Kumar Deb, Brij Lal, and Kavita Patidar, heard firsthand accounts of violence and intimidation faced by BJP workers and their families.
Ravi Shankar Prasad had commented during his visit to Amtala on June 17, “Everywhere the same story, if you’ll work for the BJP, you’ll be beaten up. If you come, your wife and parents will have to suffer violence. Mamata ji, this is your government. Women are being beaten up here… It’s a very serious issue, Mamata ji, you should be ashamed.”