Missing, wanted posters of BJP MP Raju Bista surface in West Bengal's Siliguri
Missing and wanted posters of BJP MP Raju Bista surfaced across West Bengal's Siliguri City on Thursday. According to reports, the MP hasn’t visited his constituency during the lockdown.
FollowSiliguri: Missing and wanted posters of Bharatiya Janata Party MP Raju Bistahas surfaced across West Bengal's Siliguri City. The villagers alleged that the MP has been missing from his constituency during the lockdown.
The posters read, “Where is MP Raju Bista? Is he missing? Why is he not present in the parliamentary area during the lockdown?” The poster carried this message along with a picture of Bista, the Lok Sabha member from Darjeeling.
Regarding the posters, a heated debate between the ruling and opposition parties in West Bengal has begun. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, political mudslinging continues in the state.
BJP claimed that the posters were put up for political purposes by the ruling party of the state. However, this allegation has been refuted by the Trinamool Congress leadership.
On Wednesday, at a press conference in Siliguri Municipal Corporation, Ranjan Sarkar, Trinamool Congress President of Darjeeling District, questioned the absence of the MP in the constituency. “Where is the MP? The city wants him, but he is not here,” he said.
After the press conference, these anonymous posters were seen in all prominent places of Siliguri city. Most of the posters disappeared overnight and some remained on Thursday morning.
Who put up the posters, who took it off, the whole thing is still a mystery. Neither the police nor administration officials have commented on the matter.
Ranjan Sarkar, district president of TMC, said, “BJP MP is not standing by the side of the people during this lockdown crisis. So common people expressed their disappointment through those posters. We have nothing to do with it.”
It is also reported that the MP was last seen in the constituency in January when he was campaigning there in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019.
On the other hand, BJP district president Praveen Agarwal claimed, “This is TMC's dirty work. How could the MP come here defying the lockdown? And even if he was here, he could have been locked up in his house by the state administration. He added that the leaders of the ruling party of the state are trying to do politics with this. People are watching everything. In due course, they will answer,” he said.
Reportedly, Raju Bista is now in his Delhi house. He posted photos of him on social media platforms partaking in activities like ‘thali Baha’i’ and ‘diya Kalai’ initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during lockdown.
