West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday, 9 July launched a sharp attack on his predecessor Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of persisting with what he called a strategy of appeasement, deceit, and provocation — even after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) suffered a landslide electoral defeat. The remarks were directed at Banerjee's characterisation of violent unrest in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas, as a spontaneous protest.

What Triggered the Confrontation

The immediate flashpoint was Banerjee's public framing of recent violence in Baruipur — which included attacks on police personnel and the vandalising of public property — as a 'spontaneous protest' against the alleged rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in the area the previous week. Adhikari rejected that characterisation outright, sharing videos on social media that he said showed the reality on the ground.

Among the clips he shared was footage of the mob lynching of Indrajit Tanti, a 26-year-old youth, who was reportedly dragged from his home and beaten to death by a crowd that identified him by name and identity. Adhikari argued that those responsible for Tanti's killing could not be classified as protesters under any reasonable definition.

Adhikari's Remarks in Full

'Are the rioters supposedly 'protesters'? You have lost yourself and your party has suffered a landslide defeat. Your own party is shattered and exhausted. Yet there has been no change in you. Endless appeasement politics, deceit, and provocation — these three bad habits still have not left you! There is no change within you,' CM Adhikari said in a social media message on Thursday afternoon.

He further questioned: 'In your statements, the ones you are calling 'protesters' dragged an innocent youth out of his home, identified him solely by his name and identity, and brutally beat him to death in a mob lynching. These unruly people set police vehicles on fire, who attacked the police, who tore up railway tracks, who created chaos, who violated law and order, who disrupted the area's peace and tried to spread unrest. Are they really 'protesters'?'

The New Government's Stated Position

Adhikari declared that his government would maintain a 'zero-tolerance' approach towards crimes involving rape and violence against women and children. He extended that stance explicitly to mob violence, warning that criminals who commit offences under the cover of a crowd would not be shielded by numbers.

'The days are over when crimes could be committed by hiding behind the cover of a crowd and organising collectively. Through legal means, this new government will ensure such criminals meet their end,' he said.

Background and Political Context

The Baruipur unrest erupted after the recovery of a minor girl's body on Sunday afternoon, with tensions escalating into violence that included attacks on police vehicles and disruption of railway tracks. This comes amid a broader political transition in West Bengal, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under Adhikari has replaced the TMC after years in opposition. The exchange reflects the deep fault lines between the two leaders — Adhikari was himself a senior TMC figure before defecting to the BJP — and signals that the new administration intends to draw a sharp contrast with its predecessor on law-and-order issues.