West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should be held to account for failing to protect Bengali Hindus, the BJP said on Thursday, holding her responsible for the violence during Ram Navami celebrations in Murshidabad district.

The BJP’s reaction comes after Banerjee, who heads the Trinamool Congress, claimed that the violence was “pre-planned” and accused the BJP of orchestrating it ahead of polling for the Lok Sabha elections.

The seven-phase polls starts on Friday and West Bengal will vote in all the phases -- April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. Counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.

“Bengal is falling apart and Mamata Banerjee is responsible for it. Her vituperative and communal speeches are the reason Ram Bhakts have been attacked across Bengal,” BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya said in a post on X.

She must be held to account for failing to protect Bengali Hindus, he added.

According to the West Bengal Police, a woman was injured in a blast that took place when a procession was taken out in Murshidabad’s  Shaktipur area on Wednesday.

Malviya claimed that “after widespread rioting in Murshidabad, now devotees of Shri Ram targeted in Egra, Medinipur”.

“BJP karyakartas (workers) will gherao the Egra police station to protest the brutal attack on the Ramanavami Shobha Yatra,” he said.

Chief Minister Banerjee on Thursday alleged that the BJP instigated violence during Ram Navami celebrations in the state.

“Everything was pre-planned. The DIG (deputy inspector general of police) of Murshidabad was removed a day ahead of Ram Navami so that you (the BJP) can carry out violence,” she said at an election rally in Raiganj Lok Sabha constituency.

The chief minister also claimed that goons associated with the BJP roughed up police personnel in the district.