Kolkata, Oct 16 A CPI(M) book stall in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district was allegedly vandalised and set on fire by unidentified persons on the night of October 15, party sources said on Friday.
The stall had been set up at Charapool intersection in Palashi Majhipara area of Bijpur.
Locals extinguished the flames before it could cause extensive damage, according to the party.
Local CPI(M) leaders, including senior member Kaltan Dasgupta, accused BJP-backed miscreants of being behind the attack.
The allegations could not be independently verified.
A senior police officer said the situation was normal and personnel were posted at the site.
In a related development, the Kamardanga Durga Puja committee in the city’s Entally area put up a flex banner carrying the slogan ‘Bam Badh’ (slay the Left) and prevented the setting up of a CPI(M) stall near the puja pandal.
The committee accused the Left of aiding anti-national forces and claimed that local people opposed the move.
Similar incidents of vandalism and obstruction were reported at Palta Shantinagar in the Noapara Assembly constituency, as well as in parts of Kolkata, Jorabagan, Shibpur and Kulpi in South 24 Parganas.
The controversy follows a political debate over the setting up of book stalls by Left parties during Durga Puja, a longstanding practice in Bengal’s cultural and political landscape.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had earlier urged Durga Puja committees to deny space to CPI(M) book stalls if the party used the term ‘Sharodotsav’ (autumn festival).
The CPI(M) has maintained that the stalls are an integral part of Bengal’s tradition of combining cultural festivities with the exchange of political ideas and literature.
Senior BJP leader and West Bengal minister Arjun Singh said that stalls set up by “Dimagi Naxals” would not be allowed in the future.
“They do not perform shradh rituals after the death of their parents. Such elements have no place in society,” he told reporters on Friday.
(PTI News)
