Footwear hurled at West Bengal BJP president, Sikhs protests outside party office

Shoe hurled at BJP leader in West Bengal sparks protests, accusations, and controversy over MGNREGA wages denial.

A shoe was hurled at West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Sukanta Majumdar on Thursday (June 19, 2025) while he was visiting Budge Budge in South 24 Parganas district to meet an injured party worker. Security personnel were successful in dodging it. Hundreds of people, including women, raised slogans against the BJP leader and Union Minister of State.

The Minister described the protests as “staged”, and asked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee if the protests were “democratic”. “Not only shoes, but stones were also hurled. These protests were sponsored by the Trinamool Congress. They are all jihadis and many of them are from Bangladesh,” the BJP leader said.

Mr. Majumdar accused the local administration of inaction, and said he had informed the authorities before visiting the place. Since protesters had blocked the area, the BJP leader had to be whisked out of the site on foot.

The TMC leadership took offence to Mr. Majumdar’s use of the word “jihadis”, and said that the protests were the result of the denial of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) wages by the Centre.

“After the High Court’s verdict on MGNREGA dues, deprived female protesters confronted @DrSukantaBJP today. And true to form, he chose violence over accountability, branding the poor as ‘JIHADIS’ instead of addressing their rightful demands. This comes after years of wage denial,” the Trinamool Congress posted on social media platform X.

The Trinamool Congress also accused the BJP leader of hurling slippers at an on-duty Sikh officer’s turban. A few days ago, Mr. Majumdar, while being pushed into a prison van, had hurled a poster with a pair of slippers printed on it, which fell on a turban-clad police officer. Mr. Majumdar was holding protests near the Chief Minister’s residence in Kolkata over violence at Maheshtala.

On Thursday, members of the Sikh community brought out a rally in the city, and held protests outside the headquarters of the BJP’s office at 6, Muralidhar Sen Lane. Members of the community held posters saying ”Respect all religions and faith”, and “Our turban, our pride”.