TMC vs TMC clash: Woman panchayat chief assaulted, clothes torn during Kharagpur meeting

A violent clash between two factions of the Trinamool Congress in Kharagpur Block II left woman panchayat chief Deepali Singh brutally assaulted. During a meeting of the Chhangual panchayat, Singh was reportedly beaten, her clothes torn, and her face smeared with ink. The altercation arose from a dispute over allocation of development works in the panchayat.

According to Singh, another member of the gram panchayat, Sujata De, and her supporters attacked her after objecting to the exclusion of a guard wall in their area. The confrontation escalated inside the panchayat office, with both factions exchanging blows. Police and the joint Block Development Officer (BDO) intervened to bring the situation under control.

In a public appeal, Deepali Singh urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, affectionately called 'Didi', to protect her, asserting her innocence and claiming she has evidence of the attack. Sujata De, on the other hand, denied the allegations, stating she was also assaulted and had locked the office pending resolution.

The opposition BJP has criticised the incident as another example of deep factionalism within the Trinamool Congress, highlighting it ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.