Not just Sandeshkhali, massive anti-TMC protests in Panchla over land grabbing (WATCH)

Even as Mamata Banerjee's government continues to face flak over its handling of the Sandeshkhali atrocities, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has come out with more allegations -- this time from Panchla in Howrah. Taking to social media platform X, BJP leaders have been sharing videos showing protests against local Trinamool Congress leader for illegally grabbing the lands of farmers and local people from the Taposhili community. 

Local media reports said that the protests erupted over Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Khalil Ahmed reportedly filling the town’s largest water body, which is spread over 360 bighas, with sand. The videos showed villagers armed with sticks and brooms accusing Khalil and his men of illegally occupying the land of farmers.

They also said that the TMC leader has also purchased land at throwaway prices. The villagers claimed that the TMC leader and his goons thrashed those who objected to their illegal acts. Following this, a police complaint was filed by the victims with the local police. On Monday (19 February), the women decided to take matters into their own hands and stopped vehicles ferrying sand to the town’s largest water body.

Meanwhile, local TMC MLA Gulshan Mullick has denounced the situation and accused the BJP of politicizing the incident. He alleged that the saffron party had incited women to protest by providing them with brooms and sticks.

However, local BJP leader Poulomi Adak countered, stating, "Farming is the primary occupation here. To jeopardize the livelihoods of local residents, TMC supporters decided to fill up the Dighi with sand, leading to potential flooding during the monsoon season."

Adak further criticized the local administration, panchayat, and Block Development Officer (BDO) for their ineffectiveness, pointing out that Deputy Panchayat Head Khalil was overseeing these failures.

BJP leaders further claimed that the TMC is now "just restricted to being a party of goons disguised as political leaders who are harassing the people of West Bengal with the backing of Mamata Banerjee".

To recall, Panchla is the same village where during the West Bengal Panchayat Elections, the BJP candidate had accused Trinamool Congress workers of forcibly pulling her out of a polling booth and tearing her clothes. West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) M Malviya had then said that no evidence was found of the occurrence of the incident.