Actress Roopa Ganguly allegedly heckled, manhandled by TMC workers

Actor-and-BJP leader Roopa Ganguly was allegedly attacked by ruling TMC supporters in Kolkata while she was campaigning for the upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation election

Kolkata: Actor-turned-BJP leader Roopa Ganguly on Tuesday filed a police complaint alleging she was heckled and her car vandalised by activists of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress.

The alleged incident occurred while she was addressing a campaign for the April 18 Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls in the city's upmarket Alipore area. The Trinamool has rubbished the allegations and in turn charged her with destroying their party flags.

Actor-politician Roopa Ganguly (with the placard) with others during a protest against the West Bengal government in Kolkata on Sunday. Pic/PTI

"Trinamool activists including women pelted stones and hurled abuses at us. Had police been not there we wouldn't have been alive. This reflects the sorry state of West Bengal," said Ganguly adding that her driver was also assaulted and the windscreen of her car smashed by the attackers.

Accompanied by Bharatiya Janata Party national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh, the actress filed a complaint before the Alipore police station.

"They not only manhandled me to prevent me from going to the dais, they also broke the stage to topple me. f the Trinamool is so confident of winning the polls, why dies it have to attack us? This incident has strengthened my resolve to change the state which has gone from bad to worse," said Ganguly who gained cult status playing Draupadi in the television series "Mahabharat".

Rubbishing Ganguly's charges, state Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim accused her of tearing up Trinamool flags from the stage.

"We all know she is a good actress but in politics, acting doesn't work. She is trying to malign us when actually it was she who tore up Trinamool flags. TV grabs clearly show her tearing and throwing away Trinamool flags from the stage," said Hakim, also joint secretary of the Trinamool.

There has been a spate of political clashes across the state surrounding the polls to the KMC and 91 other municipalities.

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