Jadavpur MLA and BJP leader Sarbari Mukherjee. File photo. Credit: X/@ANI screengrab
BJP MLA Sarbari Mukherjee on Saturday (August 22, 2026) denied allegations of provoking ABVP agitators during a clash between two student groups of different political affiliations in Jadavpur University, saying she never "entered the campus".A general meeting of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students' Union (FETSU) led to the clash between members of the RSS-affiliated ABVP and Left-leaning student groups at Jadavpur University early on Thursday (August 20, 2026), which left several students injured.Denying her alleged role in the violence, the Jadavpur MLA alleged that the Left-leaning SFI and RSF instigated ABVP supporters to enter the campus after a member of the RSS' student wing was injured."How can I enter the campus? I was not on the spot. I only accompanied some BJP youths in the area during a peaceful assembly in front of the Jadavpur police station area on Wednesday night. Then I left the spot. The BJP has never been associated with ABVP, and I did not attend any of their programmes," she said.The BJP has distanced itself from the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), with the ruling party's West Bengal unit chief Samik Bhattacharya pointing out that the "ABVP is not the student’s wing of BJP"."It is a nationalistic student's body which functions independently and is not a branch organisation of the BJP," he had said.Now, Ms. Mukherjee also denied making any provocative statements and said, "CCTV footage will show I was not involved and was not present there. Nor did I take part in the ABVP rally or any other rally the next day." Published - August 22, 2026 12:30 pm IST
