The Calcutta High Court has admitted an urgent petition filed by the CPI(M)'s Jadavpur area committee over the alleged vandalism of party bookstalls near Durga Puja pandals in West Bengal, according to IANS and PTI reports. The matter is expected to be heard on Tuesday, 20 October, by the single-judge vacation bench of Justice Partha Pratim Roy, and the petition also seeks compensation for the damage.

The CPI(M) alleged that two of its bookstalls in Jadavpur, south Kolkata, were vandalised on the night of Saptami, and Left parties alleged similar incidents at other places including Dinhata in Cooch Behar district, Haridevpur and Howrah — these are allegations and no arrests or independent findings have been reported so far.

The dispute escalated on 17 October in Jadavpur, when, according to the CPI(M), a Kolkata Municipal Corporation team accompanied by police arrived to remove a temporary bookstall; supporters formed a human chain and the team withdrew.

CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty called the alleged vandalism an attack on democratic thought and said Left parties have set up bookstalls near pandals since at least 1952.

State Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta condemned the incidents, calling them reprehensible and saying he felt ashamed, and noting they had happened in three or four places. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has maintained a hardline stance; in September he had asked puja committees not to allow CPI(M) stalls that used the term 'Sharodotsav'.

The Association for Protection of Democratic Rights has also written to the state Home Secretary alleging its stall was vandalised on 19 October.

Sources: PTI, IANS, Mirror Now.