Scuffle between Bengal LoP, police over BJP protest on alarming dengue situation

Kolkata, Sep 26 (IANS) BJP supporters led by the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday engaged in a minor scuffle with the police, as a group of saffron camp workers and MLAs staged a protest against the alarming dengue situation in the state.

The protest was held in front of the Swasthya Bhawan, the headquarters of the state health department in Salt Lake, Kolkata.

The police intervened when Adhikari and some of his party MLAs tried to enter through the main gate of the Swasthya Bhawan building, following which they engaged in a heated argument with the senior officers present at the spot.

As the cops locked the main entrance gate of the building, Adhikari got further agitated and he was seen shaking the gate in agony.

Addressing reporters, he said that they came to the Swasthya Bhawan just to submit a memorandum to the state health secretary on the concerning dengue situation in West Bengal.

“We wanted to meet the state health secretary just for a couple of minutes. But we were not allowed to do that. The dengue situation in West Bengal has reached an alarming level already. There have been over 100 deaths in the current season because of dengue, the figures on which have been suppressed by the state government.

"While the other state governments are submitting the related data to the Centre, the West Bengal government is refusing to do that,” he alleged.