Kolkata: A statue of late Communist leader Jyoti Basu, whose birth centenary is being celebrated across West Bengal, was found vandalised and splashed with tar early yesterday in neighbouring Howrah district.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress for the vandalism, saying it was an attempt to scare people in the run-up to the Howrah Municipal Corporations polls on Friday. The Trinamool denied the allegations. There was a stir after the fibre glass statue at a primary school in Salkia Fultala Ghat was found damaged early yesterday.
Soon, leaders and cadres of the CPI-M — of which Basu was a founding member — rushed to the spot and staged an angry demonstration, blaming the Trinamool. Born on July 8, 1914, Basu was state chief minister for 23 years — the longest tenure for the coveted post in independent India. IANS
