Education minister Bratya Basu, who went to Jadavpur University to attend a programme conducted by Trinamool Congress-backed teachers on Saturday, was mobbed and barracked and allegedly assaulted by Left-leaning students upset with the state for not allowing campus elections.

The protesting students hurled shoes at the minister’s vehicle while he was trying to leave the campus. They climbed onto the car and smashed the windscreen. The minister had to go to the trauma care centre of SSKM Hospital for medical attention. Basu has suffered injuries to his left hand, waist and neck, an SSKM official said.

At least one of the protesting students — Indranuj Roy — who was trying to prevent the minister’s car from moving, was injured when he fell on the metalled driveway as the vehicle sped away.

The student who was bleeding profusely from the head was admitted to a hospital in the area. KPC Hospital refused to comment on the condition of the patient.

Indranuj’s father Amit Roy said doctors told him his condition was stable.

WBCUPA AGM at Jadavpur University on Saturday afternoon. Bratya Basu was present there. The Telegraph picture by Bishwarup Dutta.

“He suffered injuries on his left eye. It needed four stitches. A scan will be done on Saturday night to examine if there is any injury in his brain. His left leg is fractured. But no surgery is required. If everything goes well, he could be released in two days,” Amit said.

When The Telegraph sought the minister’s reaction about the allegations that his car ran over a student, Basu said: “You (the media persons) were all there. You saw how they attacked me and my car. In that scenario, it was difficult to see anything.”

The pro-Trinamool West Bengal College and University Professors’ Association (WBCUPA) had its annual general meeting on the JU campus on Saturday. And there was tension since morning.

Students belonging to the Revolutionary Students’ Front (RSF), a frontal organisation of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), started chanting slogans seeking an election announcement.

They held up banners that said “Bratya Basu ki tawbe byartha (Is Bratya Basu a failure)?” with a caricature of the minister.

The minister’s car, which was supposed to enter through gate number 5 that leads to the open-air theatre, entered the campus through gate number 3 to evade the protesting students following police advice.

When Basu was addressing the programme, the protesting students barged into the venue and raised slogans. They played snare drums to drown out the minister’s voice.

Basu told the protesters: “Attempts are being made to disrupt the meeting. Can you think of doing the same in Uttar Pradesh or any other BJP-ruled state? If you can do this in seven days, I will say that you have got guts. We are tolerant of any protests. But you have no right to disrupt our meeting. If you have anything to say, you can come meet me after this meeting is over.”

As Basu ended his speech, Selim Box Mandal, a vice-president of WBCUPA, announced that the students who were interested in speaking to the minister could meet him in the waiting area.

Representatives of SFI, the CPM students’ wing, met the minister, but those from the RSF did not respond to the call.

When the minister tried to reach his car on his way out at 3.30pm, he found some students had climbed onto the bonnet.

They could be heard telling Basu’s security that the minister has to meet them and tell them why campus elections have not been held in five years.

Anushna Das, a protesting student, said: “Indranuj tried to speak to the minister to know when the campus elections could be held. But the minister did not want to speak. Then, as the minister tried to leave the campus, he was among the students who tried to stop the car. As the minister’s car picked up speed, he fell on the driveway. The car ran over his head.”

Indranuj, an undergraduate student, is a member of RSF, she said.

The minister, while he was barricaded on the campus, said: “I wanted to speak to four students from those who were protesting. But they wanted me to meet 40 students. You cannot have a dialogue this way.”

Protesting students were accused of setting fire to items in the Trinamool-controlled non-teaching employees’office after Basu left the campus. Computers and documents were found charred outside the office late on Saturday afternoon.

Past 10pm, another fire was reported on the campus. A man who identified himself as a security staff member who was off duty said this was a fresh fire. He could not say who started it. Fire brigade personnel were at work close to midnight. A fireman said they got a call at 10.50pm.

A section of students put up road blocks that paralysed traffic in parts of south Calcutta till late Saturday evening.

JU’s student elections were last held in January 2020.

The state higher education department has told JU that the students’ union election had to wait till an ongoing process to amend rules governing campus polls was completed.

An official of the education department said they have proposed that 55 per cent of the seats in the union be reserved for women students.