Kolkata: A workers’ meeting held by state health minister and Bidhannagar BJP MLA Saradwat Mukhopadhyay at Dum Dum Park on Tuesday was disrupted after Rajarhat-New Town MLA Piyush Kanoria arrived and questioned the presence of several people at the venue, leading to a heated exchange between the two BJP functionaries. The confrontation, which played out in front of party workers and locals, centred on allegations of extortion, syndicate activities and the alleged return of several people whom Kanoria claimed had been kept away from the area for years.Mukhopadhyay later acknowledged that his office had received several complaints relating to extortion and syndicate activities while saying he would treat the complaints seriously.The state BJP has asked both senior functionaries to avoid such public confrontation, sources said. After Kanoria arrived at the meeting unexpectedly, Mukhopadhyay invited him to the stage several times but the latter refused. The situation became tense as people accompanying Kanoria questioned the presence of some individuals at the meeting. Mukhopadhyay eventually came down from the stage and personally escorted Kanoria to the dais. Kanoria subsequently addressed the gathering.Addressing the crowd, Kanoria questioned why people he claimed had been kept out of Dum Dum Park were being brought back into the political space. He alleged that promoters were receiving calls demanding money and questioned the presence of people he accused of harassing women in the locality at night.“Every resident and promoter in Dum Dum Park knows that in my life, I have never let anyone run a syndicate,” Kanoria said while claiming he came to the meeting as a local resident and not in the capacity of an MLA. He also questioned the awarding of a lighting contract covering 18 wards of South Dum Dum municipality to a single person and sought to know under whose influence it was given.Kanoria later told reporters that Dum Dum Park is his ancestral home and he had always opposed any atmosphere of terror in the area. “I have always tried to ensure that genuine public work gets done and people get justice. If anyone tries to undermine this, I will not remain silent,” he said.Mukhopadhyay, meanwhile, said he had come to the meeting to listen to complaints and admitted that the situation was not perfect.He said around 90% of the letters received by him over the last several weeks did not carry the names of the complainants. “It indicated that still now we haven’t managed to drive fear out and instill trust among people,” he said.He also said there had been numerous complaints of extortion, syndicate operations and money being demanded from promoters.“I am not arrogant enough to say that the letters are false. I will accept every letter as genuine,” Mukhopadhyay said. “I am not taking money, I will not take money and I will not allow anyone else to take money.”Mukhopadhyay later played down the confrontation, saying Kanoria was from a neighbouring constituency and had, in fact, helped by suggesting that the complaints could be false.
