Kolkata: BJP workers from Beliaghata, Entally, Howrah, Gosaba and Kulpi protested at the party’s state headquarters in Salt Lake on Friday, expressing discontent over candidates announced so far and attempting to ransack the premises.The drama began when Beliaghata BJP workers reached the party office Friday afternoon and demanded to speak with key functionaries regarding Partha Chowdhury’s nomination.Party general secretary Locket Chatterjee took the agitators to her first-floor office. As they were leaving, workers from Entally and Gosaba arrived, shouting slogans demanding candidate changes. Workers from Howrah and Kulpi also joined.Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya attempted to pacify them, but they threatened to boycott polls if candidates were not changed. National general secretary Sunil Bansal and election in-charge Bhupendra Yadav also held meetings with the agitating workers. Discussions continued until evening as they met each group.Earlier, workers in Vaishnavnagar, Malda, protested against candidate Raju Karmakar, while workers in Mal, Jalpaiguri, expressed discontent over Shukra Munda’s nomination.“A section of workers was swayed by emotion, which has happened before. It shows BJP is now synonymous with their aspirations. Some had allegations against a candidate, and we have noted them. These issues will be discussed,” Bhattacharya said at a press conference after the agitation ended.“Those who were shouting slogans and threatening to defeat BJP cannot be our party workers. A party worker may be aggrieved, but they will never seek to defeat the party,” he added.Bhattacharya and leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari left for New Delhi on Friday evening to discuss the third list. State BJP sources said the protests will be discussed with the top brass.
