KOLKATA: During a recent campaign in poll-bound West Bengal, senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) employed stark analogies, invoking “bulldozers,” “bullets,” and the fate of “dead miscreants” in their speeches. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s statement on “bullets for a bullet” was echoed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who warned that individuals involved in violence would face prison or death should the BJP come to power in the state. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also contributed to this rhetoric by referencing the “bulldozer” metaphor used to signify his administration’s aggressive stance on crime.
At a rally in Naxalbari, Sarma asserted, “If TMC fires a bullet at me, I can fire two towards them before I die. I am not someone who is afraid of anyone.” Meanwhile, Singh, speaking in Birbhum’s Sainthia, stated, “After a BJP government is formed in the state, everyone will be straightened up. Goons will either get inside their homes, be in jail or dead.” Adityanath, known for employing “bulldozer justice” against criminals and rioters in Uttar Pradesh, reinforced this message in West Midnapore’s Pingla, saying, “We have used bulldozers to crush the bones of the mafia.”
In a related incident, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker sustained critical gunshot wounds in his back and leg following an attack by unidentified assailants on Sunday night while returning home from a party meeting in Gosaba, South 24 Parganas. The injured individual, Dibyendu Gayen, is currently receiving medical treatment, and the TMC has accused the BJP of orchestrating the attack.
