Basunia, wife escorted out of Sitai home after MP’s return triggers protests
Times of India | 12 August 2026
Jalpaiguri/Kolkata: Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, who recently switched from Trinamool to NCPI and extended support to the NDA, was escorted by police from his Sitai home along with his wife, MLA Sangita, late on Monday after hundreds gathered outside the residence and protested his visit.
The couple were returning to their ancestral home after nearly three months. Basunia later met Cooch Behar DM Jitin Yadav and wrote to CM Suvendu Adhikari about the incident. He said he did not seek additional security.
Basunia told TOI, “While I was heading to my ancestral home in Sitai from my Cooch Behar flat at night, mobs targeted my car at two spots and pelted stones. My security team and pilot car were with me. After I reached my ancestral home, a crowd continued demonstrating just 200 metres away from the house. I contacted the district administration for help, and they took prompt action to disperse the crowd. I then returned to my flat without further incident. I have written to the CM informing him about the entire episode.”
As news spread that Basunia would visit Sitai, hundreds of people gathered near his house. A close aide said they initially sought help from BJP functionaries, but maintained that the protesters were local residents and not BJP workers.
Basunia, who had initially deferred his visit after learning about the gathering, eventually reached Sitai under heavy police protection. A mob of nearly 1,000 people reportedly confronted him over alleged misdeeds during his tenure with the TMC and demanded that he be handed over to them. When protesters began marching towards his residence, police and CAPF personnel intervened and dispersed the crowd. Basunia and Sangita eventually left Sitai around 2am.
Basunia defeated Nisith Pramanik from Cooch Behar in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls while serving as Sitai MLA. Sangita later won the seat in a by-election. Sitai was the only seat in Cooch Behar retained by TMC this year. However, 65 of its 80 MLAs later joined the rebel faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee, while 20 of its 29 MPs joined the NCPI.
A BJP functionary said, “When the Trinamool was in office, we were terrorised by his atrocities, and many of us were forced to flee Sitai to escape his cruelty. Now that the BJP is in office, he has deserted his own leader and is trying to build a rapport with the BJP. As ground-level workers, we remember what we went through. We will never forget it, nor will we allow our party netas to give him any leeway.”
INSET
Keshpur MLA Seuli Saha faced intense opposition on Tuesday at the birthplace of freedom fighter Khudiram Bose in Mohoboni, where local residents raised “go back” slogans against her, reports Sujoy Khanra.
Saha had arrived around 10 am to welcome CM Suvendu Adhikari. Protesting residents accused the MLA of neglecting Keshpur’s development, ignoring Khudiram’s birthplace and disrespecting locals. Saha said, “I went to Mohoboni to greet the CM. When I learned he was arriving by helicopter, I sent a message and left for my Bankura meeting. Nobody chanted slogans while I was there. Those who chanted later were BJP workers, which reflects their political culture.”