‘What about UP?’: Mamata responds to Shah on death of BJP worker's mother
Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday lashed out at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee after the death of an 85-year-old woman, who was allegedly beaten up, along with her son, by workers of Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC), last month.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday responded to Union home minister Amit Shah’s tweet condoling the death of an 85-year-old woman, pointing towards crimes against women in Uttar Pradesh, where Shah’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power. The woman, the mother of a BJP worker, was allegedly beaten up, along with her son, by workers of Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) in North 24 Parganas’ Nimta, last month.
“I don’t know how the sister has died. We don’t support violence against women. Amit Shah tweets and says ‘Bengal ka kya haal hai.’ What is the condition in UP? What is the condition in Hathras?” news agency ANI quoted Banerjee as saying in Nandigram, from where the Bengal chief minister is contesting the ongoing state assembly elections. She is pitted against her former aide, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the high-profile constituency.
Banerjee was referring to the alleged gang rape and murder of a woman in UP’s Hathras by four men in September last year. The crime, and the forced midnight cremation of the victim, had triggered massive outrage. A TMC delegation was also stopped by the police from visiting the victim’s home. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has charged the four men with the gang rape and murder of the 19-year-old woman.
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Earlier in the day, Shah tweeted, “Anguished over the demise of Bengal’s daughter Shova Majumdar Ji, who was brutally beaten by TMC goons. The pain and wounds of her family will haunt Mamata didi for long. Bengal will fight for a violence-free tomorrow, Bengal will fight for a safer state for our sisters and mothers.”
Nandigram is among the 30 assembly constituencies, which will vote in the second phase of polling on April 1. In the first phase, on March 27, a similar number of seats went to the polls. On Sunday, Shah projected that the BJP would win 26 out of 30 seats that voted in the first phase, also reiterating that the party would form its first government in the eastern state by winning more than 200 seats.
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Elections will be held in eight phases in Bengal, with the last round scheduled for April 29. Results for all the 294 constituencies will be announced on May 2.