Minister Babul Supriyo heckled in his constituency

Kolkata, Jan 9 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Urban Development Babul Supriyo Friday was heckled allegedly by activists of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress and prevented from entering a school in his constituency Asansol.

Supriyo, who during the day visited several schools in his constituency and interacted with students on the 'Swachh Bharat' Mission, claimed local Trinamool leader and chairman of the Asansol Municipal Corporation Jitendra Tiwari abused him and tried to attack his car.

"Around a month back I had written to the schools here that I wanted to interact with students on prime minister's Swachh Bharat mission. While all the schools obliged and I had some very good interactions with the students, only in the J K Nagar High School in Raniganj, I was not allowed," said the Bharatiya Janata Party MP.

"Besides, Jitendra Tiwari along with his cronies, carrying party flags rushed towards my car mouthing expletives. They tried to attack me and even pelted stones towards my convoy," said the singer turned politician.

During the Lok Sabha poll campaign last year, Tiwari filed a police complaint alleging that Supriyo had entered a temple in a drunken state during one his poll campaigns.

Denying Supriyo's charges, Tiwari claimed that the J K Nagar School authorities had repeatedly requested him to postpone his programme till the admission process was over.

"The school had repeatedly urged him to postpone the programme till Jan 19 when the admission process ends. Being a VVIP, his presence would have inconvenienced the students who had come for admission. So we had urged him not to attend the programme," he said.

"In other schools that he went, there was chaos and pandemonium as students jostled to get his autograph. We did not want such a scenario in this school.But, there was no heckling or abusing. He has been making wild allegations against me since the Lok Sabha polls," added Tiwari.

Supriyo attributed the heckling to politics by the state's ruling party.

"There is no doubt to that the motive behind this is political. How did Tiwari and his gang manage to come close to my car? This cannot be done without political patronage. Attacks on the BJP in Bengal have now become a common feature," he said.

Supriyo also said the J K Nagar High School had in a letter sought a grant of Rs.20 lakh for constructing a library in the name of late prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

"In its reply to my letter, the school authorities asked me to concentrate on fulfilling my promise of providing jobs to the youth here and also sought a grant of Rs. 20 lakh for constructing a library in the name of Shastri saying he was grandfather of our party leader S N Singh.

"The reply was highly politicised, and since morning they adopted different means not to allow me to enter the school," said Supriyo adding that a police complaint has been filed against Tiwari.