A CPIM book stall was damaged and set ablaze by unidentified people at Charapool intersection in the Palashi Majhipara area of Bijpur, North 24 Parganas, on the night of October 15, party sources said. Local residents intervened and doused the fire before the stall suffered extensive damage, according to the party.
The incident took place amid a wider dispute over the presence of Left party book stalls at Durga Puja venues across Bengal. CPI(M) leaders, including senior member Kaltan Dasgupta, alleged that people backed by the BJP were responsible for the fire. The allegation could not be independently verified.
A senior police officer said the situation was normal and that personnel had been posted at the site. The report did not mention any arrests or confirm whether a case had been registered in connection with the damage.
A separate confrontation was reported in Kolkata’s Entally area, where the Kamardanga Durga Puja committee displayed a flex banner carrying the slogan ‘Bam Badh’, or ‘slay the Left’, and prevented a CPI(M) stall from being set up near the puja pandal. The committee accused the Left of aiding anti-national forces and said local people opposed the stall.
Similar incidents involving alleged vandalism or obstruction were reported at Palta Shantinagar in the Noapara Assembly constituency and in parts of Kolkata, Jorabagan, Shibpur and Kulpi in South 24 Parganas. The supplied report did not provide details of injuries, arrests, property loss beyond the North 24 Parganas stall or police cases in those locations.
The dispute concerns a longstanding practice in Bengal in which Left parties set up book stalls during Durga Puja and use them to distribute political literature. The CPI(M) has described the stalls as part of the state’s tradition of linking cultural festivities with the exchange of political ideas and books.
The controversy intensified after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari urged Durga Puja committees to deny space to CPI(M) book stalls if the party used the term ‘Sharodotsav’, meaning autumn festival. Senior BJP leader and Bengal minister Arjun Singh also said stalls set up by what he called ‘Dimagi Naxals’ would not be allowed in the future. He made the remarks while speaking to reporters on Friday.
The incidents have placed local puja committees, political parties and the police at the centre of a dispute over who controls access to spaces used for public celebrations. While committees have cited local opposition and political objections, the CPI(M) has defended its right to use the venues for cultural and political outreach. Police deployment at the North 24 Parganas site is the immediate administrative response reported so far.
