Kolkata: Amid allegations that BJP workers and supporters attacked CPM bookstalls in Habra and Naihati, CM Suvendu Adhikari on Monday questioned the Left party’s political presence in the state.In Digha, Adhikari said, “Do they have any presence anywhere? If anyone wants to trace them, they will have to go to China. They have no presence here. Some people are still trying to needle us. Among them are ‘dimagi Naxals’, Jamaatis, Jihadis, terrorists and communists. There are cockroaches and bedbugs too. We, the nationalists, must remain cautious of them.”Around the same time on Monday, former state minister and CPM’s Bankura district secretary Deblina Hembram was allegedly assaulted while trying to prevent an attack on an SFI bookstall in Bankura town.According to SFI, four to five people arrived at the stall outside CPM’s district office at Schooldanga around 2 pm, abused workers, vandalised furniture and books, and allegedly kicked a photograph of deceased SFI state committee member Sudipta Gupta. Hearing the commotion, the Left veteran rushed out of the office to intervene. Attackers allegedly manhandled her and broke her mobile phone by throwing it to the ground before Bankura Sadar police brought the situation under control. “Left bookstalls are being targeted across the state. I was harassed when I tried to intervene and my phone was broken. We demand justice,” Hembram said.CPM and SFI blamed BJP and RSS workers. Denying the charges, BJP state functionary Sougata Patra said CPM was blaming BJP to stay in the limelight after losing its political presence.
