Kolkata: Almost 11 years after a bullet pierced a police officer at the Girish Park crossing during a political clash, street fights returned to the same north Kolkata intersection on Saturday, underlining how the city’s old pre-poll turf wars are making a comeback before the assembly elections.The BJP–Trinamool clash just outside minister Shashi Panja’s residence at 250 C R Avenue erupted on the day PM Narendra Modi addressed a rally at Brigade Parade Ground and quickly spiralled into a pitched battle that lasted for over an hour. Supporters of both parties returned with reinforcements, attacking each other with glass bottles, stones and bamboo poles as terrified pedestrians ran for cover, shops pulled down shutters and traffic came to a halt.For many in the area, the violence revived memories of April 2015, when a similar clash at the same crossing left a sub-inspector injured after a bullet hit him in the waist. That clash, too, was triggered by political area domination.On Saturday, at least 10 people were injured, according to locals, while several police officers were also hurt while trying to control the violence. Police and RAF personnel later lathi-charged to disperse the attackers.When the clash finally subsided, Girish Park crossing bore the marks of a full-scale clash. Broken glass and stones lay strewn across the road, several guard rails were damaged, and police helmets, apparently lost in the melee, were left scattered on the road.Saturday’s clash began with allegations that Trinamool’s campaign material was removed by BJP supporters on their way to attend Modi’s programme. What began as a confrontation over posters soon snowballed into a street fight. There were counter allegations of stones being thrown at buses ferrying BJP supporters to the rally ground. But the claim was later denied by Trinamool.Minister Panja alleged that she and her workers were attacked inside her residence by BJP supporters. “It was a pre-planned attack as the goons were armed with glass bottles, stones and bamboo poles. They attacked me and my workers, injuring many of us,” said Panja. She alleged the attackers damaged the front portion of her residence.BJP leaders, however, blamed Trinamool. Addressing the Brigade rally, Modi said the ruling party was trying to stop people from attending his rally. “They destroyed our posters and banners. They attacked our supporters to stop this rally,” said the PM. Union minister of state Sukanta Majumdar said: “They attacked our supporters in various places, including Girish Park. Nobody will be spared.”Locals and political workers said the return of such street fights was tied to both electoral anxiety and control over a “commercially lucrative pocket” of north Kolkata. The Girish Park crossing is on the edge of two high-stake assembly segments where the BJP became increasingly strong. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Trinamool trailed the BJP in the Shyampukur segment by over 1,500 votes and in Jorasanko by more than 7,000 votes. In the 2021 assembly elections, Trinamool won both seats.With the assembly polls drawing closer and the SIR resetting political calculations, Saturday’s clash suggests that, in parts of north Kolkata, the street is once again becoming an election battleground. “Trinamool knows that this time they will not be able to ambush us. They are panicking,” said Vijay Ojha, BJP councillor from Ward 23. Trinamool councillor Mahesh Kumar Sharma of Ward 42 countered: “BJP could hardly mobilise people for the PM rally. The clash was engineered to distract people.”A local businessman said the violence was also about who controls Burrabazar’s economic might. “This is the nerve centre of wholesale trade and business of over several thousands of crores takes place here everyday. Before the elections, parties need funds and such area domination helps in terrorising people,” he said.For traders like Biju Shaw, a sweetshop owner at the Girish Park crossing, Saturday’s violence felt like a return to an older Kolkata. “It was a reminder of old times when supporters of two parties would clash. I hope the govt controls this in time,” said Shaw, 63.
