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India’s Ruling BJP Blames Political Opponents for Setting Fire to Office in West Bengal

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New Delhi (Sputnik): India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC), the ruling party of eastern West Bengal, have been at loggerheads since BJP gained popularity in the state. TMC had 44 seats during the 2014 Indian parliamentary elections, but had to concede several seats to BJP in the 2019 polls.

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.

“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.

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.

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