West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday unleashed a scathing attack on Union home minister Amit Shah, accusing him of running the Election Commission of India (ECI) and planning assaults on her and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) by using the Central Bureau of India and the Income Tax department.
“I have highest regards for the ECI but the Union home minister is interfering in it. I even suspect that he is running all of it. If this continues India will be sold. Modi babu is naming stadiums and roads after himself. Someday he will name the nation after himself. India will not remain India for long,” said Banerjee, referring to the Prime Minister as well.
Wheelchair-bound Banerjee’s remarks came at Chhatna in Bankura district where she addressed three back-back-back rallies. The region goes to the polls in the first of the eight phases.
“The Union home minister is sitting here (Bengal). He has no other work. He does not run the nation. He only conspires to carry out attacks. Yesterday, there was poor turnout at his public meeting. It is not surprising. Why will people attend the meeting of a man who is conspiring against our mothers, sisters and brothers all the time?
“He is always conspiring on how to assault someone, get someone arrested, send the income tax department to someone, send the CBI to raid someone’s home. Can this happen during elections? Even my home secretary was sent a CBI notice yesterday. This is not acceptable during elections. They think this will silence us. I want to tell the BJP that you cannot silence me. Even if nobody is left in India to protest, I will be there,” said Banerjee, who on Monday had described herself as a street fighter who cannot be stifled.
{{/usCountry}}“He is always conspiring on how to assault someone, get someone arrested, send the income tax department to someone, send the CBI to raid someone’s home. Can this happen during elections? Even my home secretary was sent a CBI notice yesterday. This is not acceptable during elections. They think this will silence us. I want to tell the BJP that you cannot silence me. Even if nobody is left in India to protest, I will be there,” said Banerjee, who on Monday had described herself as a street fighter who cannot be stifled.
{{/usCountry}}“No matter how much you assault us we will tackle it. You tackle Delhi first and then look at Bengal,” the chief minister raged.
She went on to invoke the “outsider” tag once again to target the BJP.
“Bengal will not go into the hands of ruffians from outside the state. If it happens, mothers and sisters of Bengal will no longer be safe. Even the media is threatened and asked to show only BJP leaders and nobody else. Even the judicial system is crying in pain,” said Banerjee.
The TMC chief also claimed that she and her party are on the BJP’s hit list.
“BJP leaders have no other work. They don’t have the time to talk to the farmers in Haryana who are agitating for six months but you will find them all in Bengal. All hotels are booked. They are planning how to kill me, how to kill the Trinamool Congress (TMC), how to loot votes and to make the ECI bring big charges against us,” she said.
Shah was in Bengal for two-days. He left for Delhi on Tuesday morning.
On Monday, the CBI questioned the chief minister’s nephew and TMC youth wing president Abhishek Banerjee’s brother-in-law and the latter’s father in connection with the coal smuggling case.
On Tuesday, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Vikash Mishra, brother of Vinay Mishra, the TMC youth wing general secretary who is a prime suspect in this case and is suspected to have fled abroad.
The CBI had earlier questioned Abhishek Banerjee’s wife Rujira Banerjee and her sister Maneka Gambhir in the coal smuggling case.
On Tuesday, Abhishek Banerjee too addressed several rallies in other poll-bound districts where he targeted the BJP.
BJP leaders did not comment on Mamata Banerjee’s allegations till Tuesday afternoon.