'If ministers can be attacked then people are not safe in Bengal': Javadekar

Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said that no one in West Bengal is safe if anti-social elements can find the courage to attack a Union minister’s convoy and criticised the Mamata Banerjee-led government for “sponsoring” violence.

“If a minister's convoy can be attacked then who is safe in Bengal? This is state-sponsored violence. We condemn these acts of violence in Bengal. Special measures should be taken to bring the culprits to justice,” Javadekar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Earlier on Wednesday, Union minister V Muraleedharan’s convoy was attacked by miscreants in West Midnapore where he had gone for a visit.

Muraleedharan accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of perpetrating the attack on his convoy. “TMC goons attacked my convoy in West Midnapore, broke windows, attacked personal staff. Cutting short my trip,” the Union minister tweeted.

He also shared a footage of the attack where a group of miscreants were seen with sticks and broken tree branches chasing his convoy. Towards the end of the video the rear window glass of the minister’s car was seen shattered and a piece of branch had made its way into the backseat.

In a series of tweets, Muraleedharan later said that the intended visit to Biswajit Mahesh’s house, who was allegedly killed in post-poll violence in Bengal in Markundachak, was postponed due to the attack on his convoy. He later met BJP workers in Debra who also alleged that they were victims of post-poll violence.

Accusations of post-poll violence has been levelled against the TMC-led government in Bengal. The Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that allegations of violence are surfacing from areas where BJP has registered victory.