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- Khagen Murmu denied locals attacked him, alleging outsiders were involved in the assault
- Murmu and BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh were attacked while distributing aid in flood-hit Jalpaiguri
- Mamata Banerjee called the incident a law and order issue
Did our AI summary help? Let us know. Switch To Beeps Mode New Delhi: Khagen Murmu, the BJP MP attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress goons, has vehemently refuted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's assertion that the locals at the flood-hit Jalpaiguri area where he had gone two days ago to distribute aid, had attacked him. Murmu and BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh were set upon by a group of men, who, he said, were brought from other places, including Delhi, to block the entry of the BJP leaders.
Videos of the attack on the two leaders and images of a profusely bleeding Murmu have been widely circulated on social media. Describing the attack as a "law and order situation," Mamata Banerjee had said, "I don't want to politicise it. But if you take 30-40 cars inside a village that has lost everything, what can you expect?"
Lying on his hospital bed, Murmu questioned how big a convoy can four MPs and a similar number of MLAs take. "How many cars were there? There was one MP or one MLA in each car, along with a few people from our district. So how many cars could have been there? They saw a 40-car convoy. They did not see that so much blood was shed," he told NDTV's Padmaja Joshi in an exclusive interview.
Describing how the attack took place, he said the crowd had accosted them where they had gone.
"They were saying, 'We are from the TMC, we are Didi's men. We are here. Why have you come? The BJP has no business here," he said. Unnerved by the mob, most of the leaders got away, but there was no space for Murmu and Ghosh in the boat.
"They attacked us... They pushed us and beat us, threw stones at our car, breaking the front and the back windshields," he said, pointing out that the attack has been well-documented.
The injuries he sustained would take time to heal, he said. "Doctors said another couple of months," he said. "A stone hurled inside my car hit me on the cheekbone, breaking it. I could even lose my eye, doctors said," he added.
The attack has become a huge flashpoint between Bengal's ruling party and the BJP. Even though two men have been arrested, the row continues.
Today, Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose gave the Chief Minister a 24-hour 'ultimatum'. Banerjee must restore law and order immediately or face possible constitutional action, he told NDTV.
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