Kolkata, Jan 23 (PTI) Expressing solidarity with the agitating West Bengal government employees, a few of whom are on fast, demanding a hike in their Dearness Allowance, senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday threatened to launch a fierce movement if anything untoward happens to the protestors.

Adhikari's comments evoked an immediate response from the ruling Trinamool Congress which accused him of hatching a conspiracy to foment unrest in the state.

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The Leader of the Opposition, who turned up at the sit-in protest venue of state employees, said, "Three days have passed since a few of them are on fast but the state is yet to respond. If anything untoward happens to them, I am afraid Bengal will burn."

At least three state employees have been on fast since January 20 while 20 others are demonstrating demanding parity of DA between state and central government employees, a spokesperson of the forum of protesting state employees said.

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"I am with them. There is a need for bigger movements like a march to the state secretariat Nabanna. If anything untoward happens to these agitating state employees, the entire Bengal will burn. There will be fire," Adhikari added.

Sharply reacting to Adhikari, several TMC leaders accused him of masterminding a conspiracy to "set the state on fire."

Targeting BJP's IT Cell Chief Amit Malviya and Adhikari for their "daily propaganda against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," state minister Aroop Biswas wrote on X: "It is hardly surprising that @SuvenduWB has all the making of a good sensationalist given that he's learning from the best @amitmalviya. He has arbitrarily cherry-picked words from @MamataOfficial's speech to tarnish her reputation.

"His hypocrisy is evident when he talks about 'communal harmony' after spewing hate-fuelled rhetoric. His veiled threat of 'burning Bengal' exposes his true intentions, yet he shamelessly pretends to be righteous."

Party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “We suspect a deep-rooted conspiracy to disrupt peace in Bengal. Suvendu's record shows he tried to disrupt peace multiple times - from organising a chaotic blanket distribution programme in Asansol that killed three people to posting fake information on electricity maintenance to incite the public."

He further added: "Suvendu Adhikari wants Bengal to burn. Despite being the Leader of the Opposition, he routinely engages in anti-Bengal activities. He even boasted about going to Delhi and blocking Bengal's rightful due.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)