Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials moved bulldozers onto the pavement outside Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s Kalighat residence on Thursday morning, tearing down a makeshift bamboo structure that had choked pedestrian access along the street.
Civic crews arrived backed by a massive contingent of central forces, cordoning off the perimeter before flattening the installation. Officials confirmed the bamboo enclosure blocked the public walkway and caused severe disruptions for local residents navigating the neighbourhood.
The machinery moved fast. The barricade came down within hours.
The civic clearance follows a week of violent confrontations directly outside the Diamond Harbour MP’s doorstep. Clashes erupted between Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamool Congress workers on the night of Banerjee’s 39th birthday, escalating from shouting matches into physical brawls and stone-pelting. Police confirmed that several workers from both political factions sustained injuries during the melee.
Banerjee alleged the unrest was an orchestrated attempt on his life. He accused BJP supporters of storming and ransacking an adjacent TMC ward office amid the chaos.
Friction escalated further on Friday night when Banerjee launched a sit-in demonstration directly on the road outside his house to protest the attacks. When on-duty police officers instructed the lawmaker to vacate the thoroughfare to prevent fresh skirmishes, Banerjee engaged in a heated verbal confrontation with the commanders on the ground. He refused to clear the street.
| Incident Parameter | Official Detail |:--- |:--- | Demolition Site | Footpath outside Abhishek Banerjee's Kalighat residence | Enforcement Agency | Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) | Security Detail | Central paramilitary forces and Kolkata Police | Rationale Cited | Removal of pedestrian footpath encroachment | Preceding Unrest | Clashes, stone-pelting, and TMC office ransacking during 39th birthday | Claimed Casualties | Multiple injured on both sides in political scuffles
Tritely political lines snapped immediately after the street violence, drawing Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee into an aggressive pushback against the police and opposition cadres. Banerjee condemned the siege on her nephew’s home, accusing political rivals of targeting the Kalighat neighbourhood with police collusion.
How many bulldozers do you have? Bring them all. If you have the courage, come and run your bulldozers over my body. I am standing right here... Run your bulldozer over my chest if you dare.
Mamata Banerjee, Former West Bengal Chief Minister
Banerjee insisted the confrontation formed part of a calculated campaign of intimidation and police harassment aimed at muzzling her party’s leadership.
Local police have tightened security cordons across Kalighat while municipal authorities review pedestrian corridors across the state capital for further unauthorized encroachments.