Shah alleges Didi made Bengal ‘kangal’, TMC calls him ‘low life’
Verbal duel comes on a day the state denied permission for two BJP rallies
KOLKATA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Monday blamed chief minister Mamata Banerjee for turning “sonar Bangla [golden Bengal] into kangal [pauper] Bangla” and triggered a fresh war of words with West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
“We will restore the glory of Bengal,’’ Shah said at a rally in Joynagar, which would go to the polls in the last phase of the ongoing national polls on Sunday.
TMC leader Derek O’Brien hit back at Shah calling him a “lowlife”, who has “insulted” West Bengal. “That puke-worthy Shah had the audacity to use the term ‘Kangal Bangla’ today at a rally. The people of Bengal will give him and Modi a fitting reply in Phase 7. That #LowLife insults Bengal,” he tweeted.
The fresh war of words came amid a bitter election campaign in Bengal, which has the most Lok Sabha seats (42) after Uttar Pradesh (80) and Maharashtra (48). The BJP has been trying to make inroads into states like West Bengal to make up for a possible loss of seats in its western and north Indian strongholds like Uttar Pradesh, where it peaked in 2014 by winning 73 seats. It managed to win just two seats in the state in 2014. The TMC had swept the polls and won 34 seats.
In Joynagar, Shah dared Banerjee to arrest him for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and added that she can stop him from attending rallies in Bengal but not the BJP’s victory in the state. “Mamata didi gets angry if anyone chants ‘Jai Shri Ram’. I am chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ here today, if you [Mamata have the guts, arrest me. I will be in Kolkata tomorrow,” Shah said days after a purported video clip showing Banerjee fuming at people for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ went viral .
Shah hit out at the TMC government for denying permission for his chopper to land in Jadavpur, which forced the cancellation of his rally there. “The Mamata Banerjee government is visibly perplexed. She wants to stop me from attending rallies. Can you [Banerjee] prevent your defeat this way?
BJP leader Sunil Deodhar claimed the permission for a poll meeting of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Aditynath in Kolkata on Wednesday, too, was cancelled. “DM & CEO both are working as an agent of ruling Trinamool Congress,” Deodhar tweeted. Trinamool did not comment on the charge.
Shah attacked Banerjee on a day she accused the Centre and the BJP of misusing central paramilitary forces for “political benefits”. “The Centre and the BJP are misusing the central forces. I have respect for the forces. But the [security] personnel should understand threatening people outside polling stations, or beating them up within the booths, are beyond their jurisdiction,’’ Banerjee said . “Law and order is a state subject. I am asking central forces to act in accordance with the Constitution instead of being afraid of the BJP.”
Banerjee’s statement came a day after West Bengal’s additional director general (law and order), Siddh Nath Gupta, said there were reports of five incidents of firing involving central forces on Sunday when the sixth phase of polling was held.
Political tensions rose further after two persons, including Gautam Chatterjee, who was the personal assistant of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh and is still connected with him, were arrested from Asansol station on Sunday evening, allegedly in possession of cash worth Rs 1 crore.
The other person to be nabbed was Lakshmikanta Shaw, a Delhi resident, who came to Bengal allegedly as a volunteer of BJP’s ‘Save Bengal’ campaign.
According to Election Commission rules, one can carry Rs 50,000 or more in cash, but should also carry supporting documents. The two were produced before a court in Asansol and remanded to four days of police custody.
Ghosh said on Monday, “He used to work with me but now he is engaged in other work. He is still with us but not directly working with me. However, we are in touch. I had no contact with him yesterday and will have to inquire about the incident to know what exactly happened, whose money it was.” He added that he did not know Shaw.