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Mamata says not afraid of threats day after KLO clip surfaces, hits out at BJP
Mamata Banerjee further said the BJP is trying to divide Bengal, but she would never let that happen.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she was not afraid of threats coming her way, adding that she was ready to shed her blood but would never let the BJP divide the state.
The Trinamool Congress supremo made the comments a day after a video was released purportedly by the absconding chief of the banned Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), making a fresh demand for a separate state and threatening the CM ahead of her north Bengal trip.
Addressing a gathering of the in Alipurduar, Banerjee said, “Some people are threatening me, I am not afraid of them.” The chief minister is scheduled to hold political and administrative meetings in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri during a three-day trip starting Tuesday.
She relaunched her attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying the saffron camp is "trying to fan separatism" in the state, ahead of the general election in 2024. She said all communities in north Bengal have been living in harmony for decades.
"With elections approaching, the BJP is fanning the demands of separate statehood... sometimes seeking Gorkhaland, and at other times a separate state of north Bengal. I am ready to shed my blood but will never allow division of the state," Banerjee said, addressing a party meeting here.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up the for the chief minister for the visit in the wake of the threat.
(With inputs from agencies)
