BJP delegation meets Prez Kovind, demands dismissal of TMC govt in WB over 'political killings'

Demanding dismissal of the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal because of the "political killings" there, a BJP delegation met President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday and also sought a CBI probe into the mysterious death of party leader Debendra Nath Ray.


PTI | New Delhi | Updated: 14-07-2020 19:11 IST | Created: 14-07-2020 19:11 IST
BJP delegation meets Prez Kovind, demands dismissal of TMC govt in WB over 'political killings'
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Demanding dismissal of the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal because of the "political killings" there, a BJP delegation met President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday and also sought a CBI probe into the mysterious death of party leader Debendra Nath Ray.  The delegation, which included BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, Union minister Babul Supriyo, party MP Raju Bista and nominated Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta among others, told President Kovind that Ray's "murder" is another one in the long series of "political killings" in the state. The delegation later met Home Minister Amit Shah and presented him with similar demands.  The body of Hemtabad MLA Ray was found hanging from the ceiling of a verandah outside a shuttered shop near his home in Bindal village in North Dinajpur district on Monday.

"Democracy has been hanged in West Bengal. Political workers were being killed so far, and now elected leaders are being murdered and shown to have committed suicide. Anarchy prevails in the state, and its government has no right to be in power... We have demanded that the assembly be dissolved," Vijayvargiya said after meeting the President.  He claimed that over 105 people associated with the BJP have been killed in the state in last three years. Bista alleged that the state police and other agencies were being used by the Mamata Banerjee government to "harass" her political rivals, and that a CBI probe was necessary to bring out the truth.

Dasgupta said "political murders" in the state have just gone on for too long, and Ray's alleged killing was not an isolated incident.  "We have seen a series of them... There is also harassment of political rivals in violation of all democratic norms," he said. Supriyo said the memorandum submitted to the President contained details of the "murder of Hemtabad BJP MLA Debendranath Roy and also 105 BJP workers & supporters who were killed in the last 3 years".

The BJP has termed Ray's death a "cold-blooded murder" and alleged involvement of the ruling Trinamool Congress in it. His family has also said that he was "murdered" and sought a CBI investigation. Ray had won Hemtabad (reserved) seat on a CPI(M) ticket in 2016 but later joined the BJP. He had, however, not quit his assembly seat.

According to the post-mortem report, Ray's death was due to hanging and no other injury mark was detected. The West Bengal Police said a suicide note was found from his shirt pocket where he blamed two people for his death..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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