Overview

• Malda TMC leader and MLA Abdur Rahim Bakshi was recorded threatening to pour acid into a BJP legislator’s mouth if Bengali migrant workers were labeled “Bangladeshis” or “Rohingyas.”
• BJP figures, including MP Khagen Murmu and Pradeep Bhandari, condemned the statement and held protests in Malda, calling it intimidation.
• Bakshi did not name BJP chief whip Shankar Ghosh but alluded to his Assembly comments on migrants, later telling reporters he had not made an undemocratic statement.
• The confrontation followed a tumultuous September 4 Assembly debate on assaults of Bengali-speaking workers, where CM Mamata Banerjee branded the BJP “anti-Bengali,” several BJP MLAs were suspended, and marshals were reported injured.
• Separately, the BJP shared an unverified video alleging a TMCP student leader attempted to burn photos of Rabindranath Tagore, the prime minister, and the home minister in Malda, as TMCP officials issued a show-cause notice and disputed that Tagore’s image burned.