Trinamool Congress (TMC) district president Abdur Rahim Bakshi on Saturday triggered a fresh controversy after threatening to pour acid into a Bengal BJP MLA’s mouth to “burn the voice to ashes”.
Bakshi made the remarks while speaking at a protest rally organised by his party against what it termed “atrocities on Bengali-speaking migrant workers” in various states across the country. Although he did not name him, Bakshi’s attack was aimed at BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh, who had earlier described Bengali migrant workers as “Rohingyas” and “Bangladeshis” during an assembly discussion, NDTV reported.
In his speech, Bakshi declared: “The one who shamelessly says that the 30 lakh migrant workers of Bengal who work outside are not Bengalis… they are Rohingyas, they are Bangladeshis. He shouted this. I said it then and I am saying it today — if I hear this from you again, I will burn your voice to ashes with acid inside your mouth. You should know that this is West Bengal. We Bengalis will not give you a place to speak. I will burn your face with acid.”
He also urged supporters to pull down BJP flags in the district and boycott the party.
BJP Condemns Remark, Stages Protests
The comments drew immediate condemnation from the BJP, which accused the ruling TMC of encouraging violence and intimidation. The party’s Malda Uttar MP, Khagen Murmu, said such threats reflected the TMC’s desperation ahead of the upcoming state polls, the report said.
“This is the culture of the Trinamool Congress. Their job is to intimidate people. Such statements are happening all the time in Malda now. The district president of TMC often says such things to be in the news. The fear that Trinamool will lose in the next assembly elections is working for them,” said Khagen Murmu, BJP MP from Malda Uttar.
Murmu also led a sit-in protest in Malda, alleging that the police were filing false cases against BJP workers in the area.
Bakshi’s outburst comes despite repeated warnings from TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has urged party leaders to avoid derogatory, violent, or inflammatory statements. At a recent review meeting ahead of next year’s assembly elections, Banerjee reminded her colleagues that such rhetoric could damage the party’s public image.
This is not the first time Bakshi has stirred outrage. A few years ago, he had threatened to cut off the hands and feet of BJP, CPI(M), and Congress workers. These remarks that also drew sharp criticism at the time.
