Union Minister gets locked by protesting Bengal BJP members in party office

Tuesday, a group of BJP members in Bankura, West Bengal, locked up Union Minister Subhas Sarkar in the party building. He was allegedly administering the district unit in a ‘dictatorial’ manner, according to the party members.

Around 1:00 pm, when Sarkar, the Bankura MP and MoS for Education, was holding a meeting, BJP supporters stormed in, yelled protest signs, and imprisoned him. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) released a video of the incident and made fun of the BJP for their ‘infighting.’

The party workers imprisoned Sarkar for around 30 minutes before releasing him.

One of the demonstrators, Mohit Sharma, referred to Sarkar as ‘incompetent’ and charged that he ignored the hard-working party members. He said that members of the district committee had been chosen by the Union Minister who was close to him.

‘Some of us have been show-caused. We are protesting to save the party. This time, the BJP did not get any seats in Bankura Municipality because of his incompetence. The BJP won two wards in the previous election. They could not field candidates in many seats in panchayat. It is a shame,’ he alleged.

Another set of BJP members arrived to the party office, and in the midst of the confusion, a fight broke out between the two groups.

An officer reported that a police team arrived at the party office quickly and saved Sarkar.

Samik Bhattacharya, a spokesman for the West Bengal BJP, described the situation as sad and promised to take action against the protesting party members.

‘Such incidents are unacceptable in a disciplined party like the BJP. If there are any grievances, there is a proper forum to raise those. We will look into the incident, and action will be taken against those involved,’ he said.

He further asserted that Sarkar played no part in the district unit and that ‘misunderstandings’ were to blame for the accusations made against him.

The West Bengal BJP unit, according to the TMC in reaction, ‘is crumbling as infighting is reaching its peak’ as each day goes by.

‘In Bankura, vehement clashes erupted and BJP workers locked Union Minister Subhas Sarkar in the party office. While unity within the party is a myth, the BJP is a shining example of a weak foundation and misplaced priorities,’ the party wrote on X.