Clash between two TMC groups in Birbhum, shoes thrown at MP Satabdi Roy’s car

A help camp set up by Trinamool Congress to solve voter list issues during the ongoing SIR drive turned into a battleground at Suri Block 2 in Birbhum district today. Angry villagers and rival TMC groups clashes openly in front of Birbhum MP Satabdi Roy, hurling shoes, sticks and abuses at each other. The trouble started when locals vented their anger against area president Balaram Bagdi during a public meeting at Gangtey village under Koma Gram Panchayat. Within minutes, two TMC factions started fighting, turning the peaceful camp into a scene of chaos.

The situation went out of control when MP Satabdi Roy tried to calm them by taking the accused leader Balaram Bagdi into her car to remove him from the spot. This angered the other group even more; some picked up bamboo sticks while shoes were thrown, one of which hit the MP Satabdi’s car. Police and senior leaders finally managed to bring the situation under control, but not before the ugly fight became the talk of the town.

Satabdi Roy later blamed BJP and CPIM workers for instigating the violence and said the incident will not affect TMC’s vote share. However, locals say the real reason is the long-standing rivalry between two TMC groups in Suri-2 block – one close to district president Kajal Sheikh and the other linked to Anubrata Mondal’s old group. Such open fights have happened several times in the past few years, showing deep cracks inside the ruling party even during routine voter work.