Minister of State for Home, Youth Affairs and Sports Nisith Pramanik's convoy was allegedly attacked by Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporters. The minister was on his way to meet party workers in Cooch Behar's Dinhata area. 

Minister's convoy was attacked when he was going to meet party workers in a program. When contacted, the Union Minister said that several BJP workers were injured in the attack. TMC supporters showed him black flags, following which clashes broke out between supporters of the two parties. The CCTV footage shows a clash between workers of both the sides and the police resorting to lathicharge to control the situation. Tear gas shells were also released

If a minister is not safe in the state, you can imagine the plight of the common man, the minister said. This incident shows the condition of democracy in Bengal. My convoy was not only pelted with stones, but bullets were also fired, he claimed. Bombs were also thrown. The whole incident took place in front of the police and they remained mute spectators.

According to the local media reports, a tribal was allegedly killed in BSF firing, for which people were angry. Since BSF comes under Ministry of Home Affairs and Pramanik is the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs. That's why people pelted stones at him. 

Last Sunday, hundreds of TM supporters demonstrated outside Pramanik's residence in Coochbehar. He accused him of apathy in the matter of alleged atrocities by the BSF.

Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had also targeted Pramanik at a rally in Coochbehar recently. He had said that the minister did nothing to address the concerns of the tribals. 

BJP state president Sukant Majumdar said, if a Union minister's car is attacked like this, it proves the state's dismal (law and order) condition. BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said the governor should take cognizance of the attack on the Union minister's convoy and take steps to invoke Article 355 in the state.

Responding to the allegations, Trinamool Congress state general secretary Kunal Ghosh accused the Bengal BJP leadership of instigating their workers to disturb the peaceful atmosphere in the state. He said, BJP workers ransacked the Trinamool Congress office in Dinhata and attacked our workers. The people of that area are angry over the killing of a Rajbanshi youth by the BSF last year. Pramanik is the minister of that department.

Pramanik's convoy was attacked in Coochbehar's Sitai area in November last year and the BJP had then alleged that 'tmc-affiliated goons were involved' in the incident. The ruling party at that time termed the allegation as 'baseless'. The police had also denied any such incident in the North Bengal district bordering Bangladesh.

BJP leader Shubhendu Adhikari said, the attack on the Union Minister in the presence of the police has told about the condition of the common people here. The central government should take action in this matter. The SP should be sacked with immediate effect and action should also be taken against the DGP.