Such an atmosphere was created in 2001: Suvendu Adhikari on post-poll violence in Bengal

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Nandigram Assembly seat, on Wednesday slammed the state government over post-poll violence and said that such an atmosphere was created in 2001 when CPI(M) was making an exit.

Speaking to ANI, Adhikari said, "The situation is very serious. I have been in politics for a long time. Such an atmosphere was created in 2001 when CPI(M) was making an exit. At that time, Mamata Banerjee got 60 seats. There was political violence in some areas."

He also compared the situation of West Bengal to that of India's partition in 1947.

"This time, the violence is happening across the state. People of a particular community are being attacked. As Nadda ji said, the situation is similar to what happened at the time of partition," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday had called West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and expressed his "serious anguish and concern" at the alarmingly worrisome law and order situation in the state following the culmination of the assembly elections.

After administering the oath of office to Mamata on Wednesday, Dhinkar said that their first priority is to stop or end the worrisome violence which erupted in the state after the elections. "I congratulate Mamata Ji on her third term. Our priority is that we must bring an end to this senseless violence that has affected society at large. I have every hope that the Chief Minister on an urgent basis will take all steps to restore rule of law."

Mamata-led Trinamool Congress won 213 seats in the just concluded West Bengal assembly elections. The BJP secured 77 seats in the 294-seat state assembly. However, elections for two seats in Murshidabad are postponed because of the demise of candidates due to COVID-19.

( With inputs from ANI )