Parts of Kolkata plunged into violence as the BJP president Amit Shah's convoy was attacked with stones by alleged TMC supporters from inside the hostel of Vidyasagar College, triggering a clash between supporters of the two parties, officials said. Condemning the desecration of polymath Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's statue in a college in Kolkata, the CPI(M) on Tuesday alleged "attacking knowledge" was central to the BJP's "poisonous project".

"BJP-RSS think nothing of when they vandalise the historic Vidyasagar College, break Vidyasagar statue. This is their advocacy of India's civilisational heritage? Attacking knowledge is central to getting their poisonous project going. Bengal will reject the destruction they offer," tweeted CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.