BJP-TMC Workers Clash In Kolkata Ahead Of Modi's Brigade Rally

BJP and Trinamool Congress workers clashed violently in the Girish Park area of central Kolkata on Saturday, just hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mega rally at the Brigade Parade Ground, injuring several people including a police officer and a BJP leader and sharply raising political temperatures ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections.

The violence broke out as BJP supporters were marching towards the Brigade Parade Ground, approximately five kilometres from the clash site. Both sides pelted stones and raised slogans, with the residence of state minister Shashi Panja also reportedly targeted during the melee. Protesters alleged their vehicles were vandalised. A heavy police contingent eventually restored order following a lathi charge.

BJP workers maintained they were attacked without provocation while marching peacefully, and alleged the assault was pre-planned. TMC flatly rejected the charge, claiming BJP supporters initiated the violence by throwing stones at homes of local TMC leaders — and asserting that around 50 of its own workers sustained injuries in the clashes.

Saturday's rally marks the culmination of the BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra', at which PM Modi was scheduled to unveil development projects worth over Rs 18,000 crore for West Bengal. The pre-rally violence underscores the deepening electoral bitterness between the two parties as the state heads towards a fiercely contested assembly election, with security forces now facing heightened pressure to maintain order across Kolkata in the days ahead.