Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee was attacked during a visit to Sonarpur in West Bengal on Saturday, where he had gone to meet the family of a party worker allegedly killed in post-poll violence.A mob threw eggs and stones at Abhishek Banerjee and shouted slogans of “chor, chor” or “thief, thief”, the Hindustan Times reported. Videos shared on social media showed the TMC leader – wearing a helmet – being assaulted. The TMC alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party workers were behind the attack.In a social media post, former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “Rulers became killers – shame on you BJP”.RULERS BECAME KILLERS- shame on you BJP https://t.co/DHNsnDAc9a— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 30, 2026
Abhishek Banerjee, who had gone to Sonarpur to meet the family of Sanju Karmakar, a TMC worker allegedly killed in post-poll clashes, also alleged that the attackers wanted to kill him.“Let them kill me,” the Hindustan Times quoted Abhishek Banerjee as saying. “Let my dead body be recovered from here. But I won’t quit and abandon Karmakar’s parents.”After spending more than 90 minutes at Karmakar’s residence, Abhishek Banerjee was escorted out by personnel from the central forces and officers from the Sonarpur police station, the Telegraph reported.Abhishek Banerjee also alleged that there were not enough police personnel at the site. “I would draw Calcutta High Court and the governor’s attention on the absence of police personnel,” the Hindustan Times quoted him as saying. “I would move the High Court.”State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said that the local police should take action in the matter.“The BJP does not engage in such kind of politics,” The Telegraph quoted Bhattacharya as saying. “Police should take action…People of Bengal have voted for a change against this politics of violence.”The BJP won the West Bengal elections on May 4, ending the TMC’s 15-year tenure in the state.Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the “deliberate lack of adequate police protection for a prominent Opposition leader speaks volumes about the BJP’s politics of vendetta and persecution”, the newspaper reported.Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed that the absence of police arrangements pointed to a “major conspiracy” under the “anarchic BJP government in Bengal”, The Telegraph reported.Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.
