Khagen Murmu and Sankar Ghosh visited Bamandanga, in the Nagrakata area of the Dooars, to assess relief efforts. A crowd, estimated at around 50 people, pelted stones, smashed their vehicle’s windshield and beat them, leaving Murmu with head and facial injuries. The BJP claims that the assault was orchestrated by individuals aligned with the ruling Trinamool Congress. The TMC, in turn, alleged that the duo’s large convoy and security detail aggravated public anger.
Prime Minister Modi condemned the incident, calling it “outright appalling” and accusing the Bengal government of indifference and lawlessness. He posted on social media that the attack underlined both the “insensitivity” of TMC rule and the “absolutely pathetic law and order situation” in the state, urging party workers to continue relief operations. He questioned why help was obstructed when people were suffering.
Mamata Banerjee responded sharply, accusing the Prime Minister of politicising a disaster. She argued that he had passed sweeping judgments without waiting for legal inquiry or administrative reports. She reminded him that he is the leader of the country, not just of a party, and said responsibility should lie in rebuilding, not narrative warfare. She contended that Murmu and Ghosh had arrived with a large convoy protected by central forces without informing local authorities, which she said provoked unrest.
The onset of the monsoon has triggered severe floods and landslides in north Bengal, especially in the Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts, with at least 18 fatalities. Two iron bridges have collapsed, and road connectivity to many remote hamlets has been severed, hampering rescue missions and relief distribution.
Banerjee has also criticised the Centre for failing to provide financial aid or outreach following the calamity. She alleged that water released from upstream barrages, inadequate dredging and lax river-management planning contributed to what she described as a “man-made” element to the disaster. She said Bengal was meeting relief costs from its own treasury and questioned why an India-Bhutan river commission had not been established.
On the ground, political pressure is mounting not only between parties but across administrative layers. The state DGP has been directed to investigate the attack. Meanwhile, Bengal’s governor, C. V. Ananda Bose, who is camped in Darjeeling to oversee relief, has expressed deep concern about cascading violence and disaster fallout.
In Delhi, BJP leaders escalated their rhetoric, calling it yet another instance of “Jungle Raj” in Bengal. Amit Malviya, the party’s IT in-charge, accused the TMC of stifling relief work and allowing violence against opposition workers. The state BJP pointed to the timing, suggesting that attacks on their members in crisis zones aim to erode their ground presence just ahead of crucial elections.
Mamata Banerjee, while condemning the assault as unacceptable, urged people to resist provocation. She emphasised that this is a moment for unity amid suffering, not political escalation. She criticised the PM for what she framed as an overreach, saying such unverified statements demean the constitutional office.
Residents of Bamandanga say that the BJP leaders’ arrival triggered heated exchanges before stones were thrown. Some locals said they were upset that promised relief aid had not reached their villages, and that the leaders’ presence felt symbolic rather than substantive. Media teams accompanying them also suffered injuries, and the convoy was vandalised before the victims were hastily shifted to Siliguri for treatment.