Kolkata: West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar on Friday said his party’s fight was not just against the TMC but also the police, and claimed that the state’s ruling side would not last 15 minutes “if the police were removed”.

Majumdar made the statement while addressing an election rally in Bankura’s Taldangra where an assembly bypoll will be held on November 13.

At the same rally, Bankura’s BJP MLA Niladri Shekhar Dana stoked a controversy by asking people to “arm themselves in self-defence against political violence”.

Majumdar, a Union minister, said BJP would win elections in West Bengal if the state machinery was neutral.

“The fight is not just against the TMC but also against the police. If you remove the police, the TMC wouldn’t last 15 minutes. The police act like party cadres of the TMC,” he claimed.

He also targeted a section of police officers, alleging that they were working as per TMC’s directions.

Addressing the rally, Dana said, “Save money for a meal every day, and slowly buy one tool after another with that. You know what kind of tools I am referring to. If any goon or worker of the ‘thug queen’ dares to eye you, you must take out their eyes.” A video of the speech went viral on social media, but PTI could not independently verify it.

Claiming that Dana’s statement was taken out of context, the state BJP said it does not support any form of violence.

Criticising the statement, the TMC alleged the BJP was encouraging violence to achieve its political goal.

“This kind of rhetoric is dangerous and divisive. It’s a clear attempt to polarise voters ahead of the elections,” TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said.

He also dismissed Majumdar’s statement, calling him a “failed leader”.

He claimed that the state police work was a neutral force as per the government’s directions, not under any party’s influence.

By-elections will be held on November 13 in Madarihat in Alipurduar district, Sitai in Cooch Behar district, Naihati and Haroa in North 24 Parganas, Taldangra in Bankura district, and Medinipur in Paschim Medinipur district.

The bypolls were necessitated as the MLAs of these assembly seats got elected to the Lok Sabha. The TMC bagged five of these seats in the 2021 assembly polls, and the BJP won one — Madarihat.