Sandeshkhali survivor, BJP LS candidate from Basirhat Rekha Patra gets X category security.

Lok Sabha 24 : The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday granted X-category security to Sandeshkhali violence survivor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha 2024 election candidate from Basirhat, Rekha Patra. Commandos of the Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) will ensure her security.

The Home Ministry has provided security to five other BJP leaders in West Bengal. Jhargram party’s Lok Sabha candidate Pranat Tudu and BJP’s Lok Sabha pick of Nirmal Saha have X category security. The saffron party’s Raiganj Lok Sabha candidate Kartik Paul has Y category security. Candidates from Jainagar and Mathurapur Ashok Kandari and Ashok Purkait have also been given X category security. The BJP candidates were given security cover based on Intelligence Bureau (IB) reports indicating that their lives were in danger.

The development comes days after a local BJP leader alleged that Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers in Calcutta had attacked her. She suffered head injuries in the incident that took place on Saturday evening. BJP Kasba Mahila Mandal president Saraswati Sarkar alleged that TMC workers attacked her with sharp weapons when she and BJP workers were putting up election banners. Later, Sarkar was rushed to a local hospital and a police complaint was registered at a local police station.

In a video that went viral on social media, she was seen bleeding while sustaining injuries on her head. In another video you saw a group of men walking with sticks. Sarkar told reporters that two of her team members were brutally beaten up, allegedly by TMC workers. Reacting to the incident, Union Minister Smriti Irani wrote on If this is the brutality in South Kolkata, I shudder to think of the limbs in Sandeshkhali.”

Since the Lok Sabha elections were announced, the Home Ministry has provided protection to more than 24 BJP leaders. Currently, more than 100 BJP leaders in West Bengal have been given security by the central government. Voting for the Lok Sabha elections in Calcutta will take place in the final phase on June 1 and the counting of results will take place on June 4.