Kolkata: Clashes broke out on Wednesday between BJP workers and the police in Kolkata during a rally to protest against post-poll violence in West Bengal with the saffron party claiming several of its members were injured. Senior BJP leader Mukul Roy and state BJP general secretary Raju Banerjee were injured during the clashes, state leaders said.

Raju Banerjee was admitted to a nearby hospital while Roy was taken to the party office and his condition is stated to be stable. The 18 newly-elected MPs of the BJP in the state participated in the protest rally. As the BJP activists jostled to reach the Bowbazar crossing in the city, police resorted to firing tear gas shells and water cannons to disperse them, the party claimed. In retaliation, the saffron party workers raised slogans and hurled stones and bottles at the officers, police said. The BJP leadership, however, claimed none of the party workers were involved in stone hurling and it was police which threw stones and bottles at protestors. BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya along with party president Dilip Ghosh and other senior leaders held a sit-in demonstration at the Bowbazar-Central Avenue crossing in protest against the violence. Later on BJP leaders ended the sit-in demonstration.