TMC’s Derek O’Brien falls on staircase during clash at Kolkata party office
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien fell down a staircase during a confrontation at the party’s office in Kolkata on Thursday. He later accused police of
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien fell down a staircase during a confrontation at the party’s office in Kolkata on Thursday. He later accused police of forcing their way into the building and shoving TMC leaders and workers on the stairs.
O’Brien said the dispute began after the Kolkata Municipal Corporation arrived with what he called an “illegal notice” backed by Kolkata police. He told reporters the notice was not signed, did not include a photograph it claimed to have attached and carried no details. “For over one and a half hours, we tried to explain to them. Then they illegally trespassed into the building,” he said.
‘More than 150 police officers’
The TMC lawmaker said more than 150 police personnel entered the premises and pushed people on the staircase. He said the encounter left him on the floor after the scuffle. O’Brien also alleged that police had “illegally” taken away 10 to 15 TMC workers.
He said senior party leader Abhishek Banerjee was present when the clash unfolded. O’Brien linked the police action to the Trinamool Congress’s annual students’ rally scheduled for the following day, and blamed the BJP and its “B-team” for the episode. He did not provide evidence for those allegations in the remarks cited.
Political fight, local force
The episode adds another flashpoint to the long-running political friction between the ruling party in West Bengal and the state’s law-and-order machinery. Kolkata, where the clash took place, is the political heart of the state and a frequent stage for confrontation between party offices, civic authorities and police.
The claim that civic officials arrived with police backing, and that officers then entered the building in large numbers, will likely sharpen questions over the handling of the notice and the scale of the response. No independent account was included in the source material. The reported confrontation came just a day before the TMC’s annual students’ rally, a timing O’Brien said was no coincidence.
The incident, captured on video in reports circulating online, ended with O’Brien on the staircase and a fresh round of accusations from the TMC side. He said the police had picked up 10 to 15 workers. The party has not, in the source material available, detailed any next legal or administrative step after the clash.
