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The grenade attack at BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia’s home in Punjab’s Jalandhar was masterminded by Zeeshan Akhtar, a close associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and a wanted accused in the murder case of NCP leader Baba Siddiqui, sources in Punjab police have said. Sources in the police have also said Pakistan’s ISI has conspired to disrupt religious harmony in Punjab and that the attack against the BJP leader was planned across the border.

A blast at the home of Mr Kalia, a former Cabinet minister and a former state BJP chief, early on Tuesday damaged an aluminum partition and shattered glass windows of his home and vehicles. No one was hurt, police said. The BJP leader was home at the time.

This is the latest in a series of blasts in Punjab that has prompted Opposition parties to target the Bhagwant Singh Mann government. Punjab minister Mohinder Bhagat had said people who “could not digest the all-round development of the state” were behind the attack.

Police sources said the main accused who threw the grenade has been taken into custody and the e-rickshaw used in the attack has also been seized.

Intererestingly, shortly after the blast at the BJP leader’s home, Babbar Khalsa International terrorist Happy Passia has claimed responsibility. This suggests that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang may be working with Khalistan terrorist outfits and the ISI, something security agencies have suspected for a while now.

Within a year, Punjab has witnessed as many as 12 blasts and Happy Passia’s name has cropped up in probes into the explosions. Along with him, gangster Jeevan Fauji is also suspected to be involved in the attacks, many of them targeting police establishments in Amritsar.

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday posted private WhatsApp chats between two Trinamool Congress MPs – Kalyan Banerjee and Kirti Azad – that seem to show them squabbling over divisions within Bengal’s ruling party and referring to the “beautiful activities of (a) versatile international lady”.

Responding to the leaks on behalf of the Trinamool – under fire as it preps for next year’s high-stakes Assembly election – veteran leader Sougata Roy said, “The screenshots which have been published have put us to shame and embarrassment. This should not have happened…”

“Every party should maintain internal privacy,” he said, urging Ms Banerjee to act.

Screenshots of the WhatsApp messages were posted on X by the BJP’s Amit Malviya.

NDTV cannot independently verify the authenticity of these messages, which apparently include Mr Azad indicating Mr Banerjee has had too much to drink (“… you have had one too many”) and telling the Lok Sabha leader “… stop your childish and erratic behaviour. Act like an adult…”

On 4th April 2024, two TMC MPs had a public spat at the headquarters of the Election Commission of India, where they had gone to submit a representation. It appears the party had instructed its MPs to gather at the Parliament office to sign the memorandum before proceeding to the… pic.twitter.com/BwqQRE8FhI

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 7, 2025

It also includes Mr Banerjee – who also made headlines for smashing a glass bottle on the table during a meeting on the Waqf Amendment Bill – apparently congratulating the “gentleman who opened the beautiful activities of versatile international lady”, declaring, “Not a single boyfriend stood with her”.

He also attacked Mr Azad, a former India cricketer. “… you (Mr Azad) were thrown out of BJP for doing internal politics… you are still captain of internal politics,” he declared.

The “versatile international lady” in question is reportedly also a Trinamool MP.

Accompanying the post was a claim from the BJP leader – that the alleged Banerjee-Azad squabble began after a Trinamool MP carrying a memorandum for the Election Commission skipped instructions, that all MPs gather at Parliament, and went solo to the EC’s Delhi office.

“This angered another MP… who confronted him when they came face-to-face at the Election Commission. A heated exchange followed… with the two shouting at each other…”

“So much so that one of them asked police personnel present to intervene,” he claimed.

“The matter escalated quickly and reached (Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee, who reportedly asked both MPs to stand down. But the feud… spilled over into the ‘AITC MP 2024’ WhatsApp group, where warring camps took sides and traded barbs,” Mr Malviya posted on X.

“… the question still lingers: who exactly is the ‘versatile international lady’?”

The WhatsApp chats were reportedly exchanged a day after the alleged Banerjee-Azad public spat.

Soon after the public spat between two TMC MPs in the precincts of the Election Commission of India on 4th April 2025, the irate MP continued slandering the ‘Versatile International Lady (VIL)’…

This is the stuff legends are made of! pic.twitter.com/dsubQrmQUj

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 8, 2025

“Soon after the public spat between two TMC MPs on the precincts of the Election Commission of India on April 4… the irate MP continued slandering the ‘Versatile International Lady’…”

“This is the stuff legends are made of…” Mr Malviya declared in his post.

In the videos Mr Banerjee, a four-time Lok Sabha MP, and Derek O’Brien, the Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha leader, can be heard and seen, as too can at least four women MPs.

In one section of the video Mr Banerjee seems to be heard claiming he does not owe his position as a Trinamool MP either to any ‘quota’ or because he had joined from a rival political outfit.

Again, NDTV cannot independently verify the authenticity of these videos.

With input from agencies

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