Firing a salvo at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while sitting in a wheelchair with her leg in a cast, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that the party is the “biggest factory of Dushasans”.
“There is Dushasan-raj going on in the country. BJP is the biggest factory of Dushasans. They have destroyed the country,” Banerjee said while addressing a public rally at Gopiballavpur in Jhargram district.
Dushasan was a Kaurava prince and the younger brother of Duryodhan in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.
She said that the BJP will be defeated in Bengal and that the entire country is looking up to Bengal.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with chief ministers of all states and Union territories on Wednesday to discuss the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in India, Banerjee upped her ante against Modi.
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“I told them to give the Covid vaccine to the common people. It is not in our hand. It can’t be done with the Centre’s permission. I told them I am ready to pay. I want to give vaccine free of cost to every citizen. Modi is not giving. Again Covid-19 cases are rising,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}“I told them to give the Covid vaccine to the common people. It is not in our hand. It can’t be done with the Centre’s permission. I told them I am ready to pay. I want to give vaccine free of cost to every citizen. Modi is not giving. Again Covid-19 cases are rising,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP hit back, accusing Banerjee of lying since she knew her “defeat” was “imminent”.
“Earlier her speech was a mix of truth and lies. Now it is only lies. That is the transformation ahead of the polls. She knows that defeat is imminent and hence is saying all these things,” Jay Prakash Majumdar, BJP’s vice-president in West Bengal, said.
The assembly election is scheduled to begin in West Bengal from March 27 and will be held in eight phases. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had made deep inroads in the state, winning 18 of the 42 seats. The BJP had won all the five Lok Sabha seats in Jangalmahal area, including Jhargram.
“BJP lied during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. They did nothing in these two years. They have done a big zero. So give them a big zero. It is you who would be playing from March 27. Bold them out. Hit the ball and send them out of the field,” the chief minister said, using cricket metaphors.
Banerjee was injured while campaigning at Nandigram in East Midnapore district on March 10. Even though the Trinamool Congress had initially alleged that the alleged attack was a deep-rooted conspiracy to kill Banerjee, observers appointed by Election Commission stated in their report that there was no attack.
“I have been roughed up throughout my life. Earlier it was the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and now it is the BJP. You have broken my head, you have broken my limbs, I had to undergo surgery because you had hit me in the eye. Only my legs were safe and hence today you have hit me in my legs so that I can’t stand. I will use the legs of mothers and daughters of Bengal,” she said.
She urged party workers to work at least four times harder to defeat the BJP in Bengal.
“The entire country is looking up to Bengal. It is a big political battle. If you want to uproot the BJP from India, the call has to be raised from Bengal,” she added while addressing a second rally from Jhargram.
The TMC chief alleged during both rallies that BJP would distribute money ahead of the polls and BJP-led goons from other states would try to enter the state in trains to create trouble.
“The TMC has been attacking the BJP in the same language every day. The people of Bengal will take their revenge. By saying that the BJP will distribute money to purchase votes, she is insulting the people of Bengal. We will soon see Banerjee as the opposition leader on the streets of Kolkata,” said Samik Bhattacharya, BJP’s state spokesperson.