Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Malda, Gopal Chandra Saha, suffered bullet injuries late on Sunday evening. Mr. Saha was shot at from a close range in the Sahapur area of Malda. The bullet has hit his neck.
The BJP candidate was returning home after visiting a venue in the district where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a rally on April 23.
He was admitted to Mada Medical College and Hospital. Tension prevailed in the area after the incident. The constituency will go to polls in the eighth phase on April 26.
While several candidates of both the BJP and the TMC have suffered injuries during the campaign, this is the first occasion on which a BJP candidate has been shot at.
Video footage aired by local television channels showed the candidate being brought to the hospital on foot by his supporters. The State BJP leadership expressed strong condemnation over the incident.
“This speaks volumes about the culture of political violence in the State,” BJP MP and Union Minister Deboshree Chaudhuri said.
Trinamool Congress leader from Malda Krishendu Narayan Chowdhury said that there could be no involvement of his party in the violence and demanded action against those responsible for the attack.
In February, State Minister Jakir Hossain had sustained serious injuries in a bomb explosion in in the adjoining Murshidabad district.
