Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari's rally was attacked in Nandigram in Bengal, the BJP alleged today, asking the Election Commission to bring in more security forces ahead of polls in the state.
Dharmendra Pradhan said a BJP youth worker was attacked and is in a serious condition after clashes with workers of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.
"After Suvendu Adhikari's padayatra started today, our Yuva Morcha leader was attacked here, in front of me. When I saw him bleeding, I took him to the hospital... He may need to be taken to a specialized hospital. I appeal to the Election Commission to deploy paramilitary forces here," said the Union Minister.
"Mamata Didi should fight elections in a democratic way. We don't understand... she should not do all this, they belong to Nandigram," he added.
Mr Pradhan alleged that 130 BJP workers had been killed in violence by Trinamool.
Last week, Mamata Banerjee had been injured while campaigning in Nandigram and had alleged a BJP conspiracy. She said her leg had been crushed when a crowd pressed into her car door. After two days in hospital, she emerged in a wheelchair. She has been campaigning in a wheelchair since.
In the battle for Bengal between Mamata Banerjee's party and its main challenger BJP, the most high profile contest is in Nandigram, where the Chief Minister will take on her former trusted aide-turned-defector Suvendu Adhikari as her BJP rival.
Mr Adhikari had declared in December, soon after joining the BJP, that he would defeat Mamata Banerjee by over 50,000 votes from Nandigram.
Voting will take place in Nandigram on April 1, in the second round of the eight-phase Bengal election ending on April 29. The results will be declared on May 2.
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