Kolkata: An uneasy calm returned to Girish Park on Sunday, a day after a violent clash between BJP and Trinamool supporters. With dents in the door and broken window panes, the house of minister of industry and commerce, women and child welfare, Shashi Panja, bore signs of the attack, and locals continued to live in fear. A police picket and barricade were set up on Sunday, cordoning off the minister's house to prevent further attacks.
Pintu Hazra, a Girish Park resident and Trinamool worker in ward 26, said he was among the three-four party workers who were in the house when the violence began. He alleged that BJP workers en route Brigade got off buses in front of the house, shouted slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram' and tore "No Vote to BJP" banners.
"We came out of the house and asked why they were tearing those banners. They started raining blows on me. We were hugely outnumbered, with around 200 BJP workers from four-five buses gathering there. Soon, they started pelting stones at the minister's house. Sensing trouble, we ran inside. We did not notice any locals among those attacking," Hazra said.
He said the minister was not at home but the rain of bricks and stones on the house did not cease. They informed Panja, who rushed back. Later, more party workers from the locality also arrived.
"I was overseeing pavement repair work a few steps from the minister's house when people from the bus started pelting stones. Soon, retaliation followed from the other side. I fled the place with my labourers," said Debraj Verma, a local and a contractor.
While the blame game over who began the attack continued, locals feared this could be the beginning of violence in the run-up to the assembly elections. The shops lined up close to the spot were forced to shut for a few hours.
Raju Gupta, who has been running a snacks shop for close to two decades, said he shut his shop for nearly three hours fearing damage and injury.
"Why would the buses carrying BJP supporters stop on their way to the rally? So, it is anybody's guess as to who started the clash. What followed was scary," said Pratima Das, a local who sells cucumbers on the pavement. She rushed inside a medicine shop for cover when the violence began.
Condemning the incident, Akin Chand Kar, a resident, said, "Such incidents will only divert attention from real issues that matter to citizens. We want political parties to debate real issues and not fight on streets like this. If this is the beginning, we fear more such incidents will follow before the polls."