Party worker shot at for chanting "Jai Shri Ram", claims BJP

The BJP on Thursday alleged that one of its workers in South 24 Parganas district was injured after Trinamool Congress activists shot at him for chanting "Jai Shri Ram", a charge denied by the ruling party. The police said one person, identified as Ramprasad Mandal, was shot in the leg and has been hospitalized.

A probe has been initiated into the case, police said. BJP sources said the incident happened on Thursday evening when Mandal was sitting at a tea stall in Baruipur, speaking about the achievements of the BJP-led central government and was chanting "Jai Shri Ram" slogans.

A scuffle broke out between him and some local TMC activists who asked him to stop chanting "Jai Shri Ram,", the sources said. "Soon after, TMC activists opened fire and he was hit in his right leg. Party workers and locals then took him to a nearby hospital," a local BJP leader said.

TMC leadership denied the allegation as baseless and claimed that the attack was a result of "infighting within the BJP". Since the last Lok Sabha polls, in which the saffron party bagged 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, there have been several incidents of BJP workers being attacked at various parts of West Bengal allegedly for chanting "Jai Shri Ram".