KOLKATA: Residents in Ariadaha allegedly hurled eggs at a vehicle linked to senior Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra’s vehicle on Saturday night, the latest in a string of protest actions that have increasingly targeted TMC leaders from the party’s top rung to local grassroots representatives since the Assembly election defeat.The incident was reported from the Kamarhati constituency when Mitra went to the area amid tension. Protesters allegedly pelted his vehicle with eggs, forcing him to withdraw from the locality. Mitra later said he was not inside the vehicle at the time, even as reports alleged his driver was assaulted during the commotion.Mitra blamed “BJP-backed miscreants” and described the episode as pre-planned, while local residents claimed their anger had been building for months.According to accounts from the area, the protest had begun outside the home of a councillor from Ward 14, where auto and e-rickshaw drivers and other residents gathered to demand the return of money they alleged had been collected as “cut money” over the years. The protesters accused local TMC functionaries of illegal collections and demanded action and repayment after the change in the state’s political fortunes.The egg attack mirrors similar demonstrations that have followed TMC leaders in recent weeks, including the protest that confronted national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee during a visit to Sonarpur, where he was met with sloganeering and alleged egg and stone throwing. Comparable scenes have also been reported around police stations, court complexes and during court appearances of arrested TMC leaders, including neighbourhood councillors and panchayat pradhans, as allegations of extortion and corruption trigger public backlash.
