West Bengal: Keen to avoid Naxalbari embarrassment, Locket Chatterjee, BJP leaders spend time in Chetla

To prevent more such incidents, Chatterjee and other BJP leaders on Thursday spent some time at the house of Sandya Baidya and Atanu Mondal at Chetla Lock Gate area. Later, Chatterjee said the people of Bhawanipore were not scared of any “outside pressure”.

“We came here to meet the family members because we were concerned about their security. Just because one family welcomed our party president to their house as guests, the Trinamool intimidated them and threatened them with murder unless they joined Trinamool Congress.

“If Trinamool can carry out such an exercise in North Bengal, they can repeat the same in Bhawanipore and elsewhere,” said Chatterjee.

“But Trinamool should remember that they can force one family to join the party, but by doing so, it will lose the support of hundreds of families. One can force someone to join your party, but you cannot force someone to vote for a party,” she added.

During his three-day tour of West Bengal, Shah had visited several households at Naxalbari, Bhawanipore — Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s constituency — and Rajarhat as part of his ‘booth chalo abhijan’. He had interacted with locals in these areas and spent some time at their houses.

The BJP, meanwhile, held protests in various parts of the state, accusing the Trinamool of “kidnapping and forcing” the Naxalbari couple, on Thursday. Activists from Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and BJP organised protest rallies and meetings in Kolkata, Naxalbari, Siliguri, North-24 Parganas and South-24 Parganas.