In the wake of the killing of Chandranath Rath, personal aide to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, party leaders on Thursday remembered him as a “completely apolitical” and reliable figure who had long worked closely with the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal.
Reacting to the incident, BJP leader Agnimitra Paul said Rath was known within the party as “Mr. Dependable”.
“I received the news. Chandra, who took care of all the work of our party in the Assembly, like Mr. Dependable, was completely apologetic. He was coming from Nizam’s palace. He was shot with four or five bullets. The police will investigate,” Paul said, as reported by news agency PTI. He follows West bengal news live updates.
Rath, who worked closely with Suvendu Adhikari for the past five years, was shot dead by unidentified bike-borne assailants in Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas late on Wednesday night.
The killing came just two days after the BJP’s landslide victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections, where the party won 207 of the 294 seats.
Another BJP leader, Sriruba Mitra Chaudhary, also described Rath as a close friend and an “apologist”.
“Chandranath Rath was a dear friend and a completely apolitical person. He would not show mercy to the perpetrators,” the agency quoted her as saying.
Rath’s mother demands punishment
Rath’s mother, Hasirani Rath, demanded maximum punishment for those responsible and linked the attack to the post-election atmosphere in the state.
“I want the guilty to be punished. I am a mother, and I don’t want them to be hanged. I want life imprisonment for them. They did this because the BJP came to power,” she told news agency ANI.
She also claimed that provocative political statements contributed to the violence following the election results.
“If my son had died in an accident, I would not have been so sad. The way the miscreants tortured and killed my son, these are all stories made up by Trinamool. Ever since Suvendu Babu defeated Mamata Banerjee, my family has faced such danger,” she added.
Bengal witnesses new violence after elections
His killing exacerbated concerns about post-election violence in West Bengal after the results were announced earlier this week.
More than 1,500 people have reportedly been arrested across the state since Monday evening.
Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nand on Wednesday announced a ban on marches involving bulldozers and earthmovers after BJP workers vandalized shops in Kolkata’s New Market area and attacked the TMC office using a bulldozer.
“Cold-blooded murder”: Adhikari
Adhikari on Thursday described the killing as a “cold-blooded murder” and claimed that the attackers conducted a reconnaissance operation before carrying out the shooting.
Rath reportedly played a key role in running the Adhikari elections in both Nandigram and Bhabanipur. Adhikari had defeated Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur during the Assembly elections.
Outside the hospital, BJP supporters gathered in large numbers and raised slogans against the ruling Trinamool Congress party.
Even as he pointed out the “long history of political violence” in Bengal, Adhikari urged party workers not to retaliate.
“We are not coming to any conclusion at this moment, even though the TMC has used terrorism all these years. The Directorate General of Police has assured us that a proper investigation is underway. He said this was a planned murder committed in cold blood. A car was used in the crime,” Adhikari said.
BJP supporters called for restraint. “I ask our people not to take the law into their own hands and trust the administration. Justice will be done,” he said.
He added, “We believe that the incident may or may not have anything to do with politics. The police have found that the murder was planned during the last three-four days. A survey has been conducted. Our party will stand by the victim’s family.”
