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‘If they have guts, they should play the political card’: Mamata on BJP

Banerjee said that her government was always in support of peaceful demonstrations and it did not allow anyone to create a disturbance at Park Circus, where a Shaheen Bagh-styled demonstration against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the NRC entered its 27th day on Monday.

Updated on: Feb 3, 2020, 23:14:36 IST
Hindustan Times, Kolkata | By
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West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday launched a scathing attack on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), daring them to “play the political card” instead of “religious card” and said that the country was facing criticism because of the present government.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she condemned the way Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was dubbed a terrorist by a union minister. (SAMIR JANA/HT PHOTO.)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she condemned the way Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was dubbed a terrorist by a union minister. (SAMIR JANA/HT PHOTO.)

“We are proud of our country but now-a-days everybody is criticising India. We don’t like this. We love our motherland. So, it seems like they (BJP) are scared. There is a saying that those who get scared die, whereas those who fight, win,” Banerjee said.

“If they have guts, they should play the political card. But they can’t talk development. Their only option is to divide the country,” she said.

Banerjee accused the Narendra Modi government of turning the country into “a killing field” and called BJP a party of rioters, goons and opportunists.”

“To scare off people, they are sometimes going to universities and sometimes opening fire at women’s gathering. All important personalities of the BJP and they are all holding constitutional positions, are directly talking of bullets. This proves that the country is facing its greatest danger,” she said.

The chief minister said that she condemned the way Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was dubbed a terrorist by a union minister.

“If all are terrorists, what are they (BJP)? Are they the greatest nationalists or opportunists? I think they are the greatest opportunists. They cannot deliver. All they can do is encourage vandalism and hooliganism,” said the chief minister.

Banerjee said that her government was always in support of peaceful demonstrations and it did not allow anyone to create a disturbance at Park Circus, where a Shaheen Bagh-styled demonstration against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) entered its 27th day on Monday.

Alleging that the BJP was using religion to divert discussions on issues related to politics and development, Banerjee said, “They should have played the development card, the humanity card. They could have said that GST would stay, they should have addressed the unemployment issue and why it is not solved, and why the economic disaster is going on.”

BJP state unit general secretary Sayantan Basu alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government was trying to bury the issue of infiltration from Bangladesh that harmed the well being of the people of West Bengal.

“Infiltrators are eating away the resources meant for the state’s true citizens. But her government is ready to back those infiltrators and deprive real citizens. I want to know whose development concerns her, that of the real citizens or the infiltrators?” Basu said.

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