Baruipur on the boil at Suvendu Adhikari roadshow; BJP leader calls for President’s Rule in Bengal

Tension rises in Baruipur as BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari rallies against Assembly Speaker, sparking clashes and controversy.

Baruipur remained on the boil as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs, held a rally on Wednesday (March 19, 2025) at the constituency in South 24 Parganas, targeting Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee.

The Speaker is the incumbent MLA from Baruipur constituency, and has been facing heat from Opposition members over the suspension of Mr. Adhikari and other BJP MLAs from the Assembly. 

Tension escalated on the roads of Baruipur, right outside Kolkata, when a meeting by the ruling Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) party workers was approved at the same location as the LoP’s roadshow, which led to a long face-off. The BJP held the rally in Baruipur to condemn the Speaker’s action against the party’s legislators. 

“We need President’s Rule in West Bengal to hold elections,” Mr. Adhikari said during his roadshow as Trinamool workers showed him black flags, raised “go back” slogans against him, and called BJP leaders “thieves”. He asked the Election Commission of India to take note of the situation.  

Mr. Adhikari also alleged that his car was attacked with sticks, and called for a ‘Baruipur abhijan’ (march to Baruipur) to gherao the Police Superintendent’s office and criticise the alleged police inaction. 

Other BJP MLAs also joined the rally, but the BJP alleged that their bus was blocked along the way, and elected members were heckled by ruling party workers. 

After clashes at the rally, Mr. Adhikari addressed the press and said that BJP leaders were verbally abused. “We had to cut our roadshow short because of the attack and heckling. We had permission from the police, but they also approved a meeting by the TMC at the same time in the same place. They trapped us,” Mr. Adhikari said.