On Sunday (12 January), hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a two-day visit to West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in Asansol district, around 200 kilometres away from state capital Kolkata was set on fire. BJP has blamed the blaze it on its TMC political opponents for the incident.
#Breaking | BJP office set ablaze in Asansol.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) January 13, 2020
BJP alleges TMC's role behind this incident.
TIMES NOW's Tamal Saha with more details. Listen in. pic.twitter.com/je7AlWfhmV
“Important documents and files have been burnt to ashes while the damage is different. We are sure that the office was set ablaze by didi’s (referring to Mamata Banerjee) goons. They are attacking us every now and then,” said a BJP worker.
The police said they were investigating the case from all angles.
It was Prime Minister Modi’s first visit after taking office for a second term in May 2019.
I am excited to be in West Bengal today and tomorrow. I am delighted to be spending time at the Ramakrishna Mission and that too when we mark Swami Vivekananda’s Jayanti. There is something special about that place.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 11, 2020
Chief of West Bengal and leader of TMC Mamta Banerjee had been organising public protests against India's controversial Citizenship Law and accused the BJP of trying to brand opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act as communal. The law, which was introduced in December and came into force on 10 January, grants citizenship rights to illegal immigrants belonging to religious minorities from three neighbouring Islamic countries, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Several opposition parties and activists have alleged that, the law was discriminatory and violates the Constitution of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President and federal Home Minister Amit Shah have claimed, it was made to save minorities from those three countries from religious persecution.