KANTHI/GHATAL/PURULIA, May 22: Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday accused West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee of compromising national security for the sake of vote bank politics and “committing a sin” by allowing infiltrators to change the demography of the state.
Addressing back-to-back rallies in Kanthi, Ghatal, and Purulia Lok Sabha constituencies, Shah said the TMC will “disintegrate” and there will be a “farewell of Mamata Banerjee’s government” after the BJP wins 30 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
“Bengal has become a safe haven for infiltrators. Due to infiltration, the state’s demography is changing, impacting not only this state, but the entire country. Banerjee is committing a sin by helping to change the demography of Bengal. She is compromising national security for sake of vote bank politics,” he said.
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Alleging that “infiltrators are the vote bank of the TMC,” Shah said Banerjee is opposing the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to appease her vote bank.
“‘TMC ko ghuspetiyo se pyar aur CAA pe vaar’ (TMC has a love for infiltrators and attacks the CAA). The infiltrators are the vote bank of the TMC,” he said.
Shah criticised Banerjee’s recent comments against certain monks of Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevashram Sangha, asserting that these socio-religious organisations are being threatened to appease the TMC’s vote bank.
“Banerjee is attacking the Sangha, but she is not aware that had it not been there, Bengal would have been a part of Bangladesh,” he said.
Addressing an election rally in Goghat under Arambagh LS constituency on Saturday, Banerjee had claimed, “Some monks of Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevashram Sangha are working under the influence of BJP leaders in Delhi.”
Hitting out at the opposition INDIA bloc, Shah said after five phases of polling, the “INDI alliance has been wiped out across the country.”
“Voting for the five phases has been completed. In these five phases of elections, Modi ji has crossed 310 seats. Mamata Didi’s INDI Alliance has been wiped out. This time in Bengal too, BJP will get 30 seats,” he said.
The BJP, in the last Lok Sabha polls, bagged 18 of the 42 seats in Bengal and this time has set the target of winning 30.
“As soon as BJP gets 30 seats in Bengal, TMC will disintegrate and there will be a farewell of Banerjee’s government,” he said.
On Sandeshkhali, where allegations of sexual abuse against TMC leaders have surfaced, Shah said it is a matter of shame that “Mamata Banerjee, despite being a woman chief minister, tried to protect the culprits.”
“For years, heinous crimes were carried out against women on the basis of religion. Mamata was not ready to arrest the criminals as the name of the culprit was Shajahan Sheikh and for her vote bank politics. Even after the high court’s order, the investigation was not conducted, and the court handed over the probe to the CBI,” the senior BJP leader said.
His remarks come in the backdrop of multiple purported videos of Sandeshkhali women in the public domain, which claim that a local saffron party leader made those women sign blank papers which were later filled up as complaints of sexual assault. Shah, however, didn’t directly refer to those videos.
Shah said political violence has “killed democracy in Bengal.”
“Panchayat elections were held here, in which more than 200 people were killed. But I want to tell you that this time you should not be afraid because in the five phases of elections, TMC goons could not harm anyone. And we will teach these goons a lesson this time,” he said.
Referring to the raid on BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s residence on Tuesday night, Shah said, “The more the TMC tortures Suvendu Adhikari, the more BJP will give him prominence.”
Shah said the TMC has turned its slogan of “Maa Mati Manush” into “Mullah, Madrasa, and Mafia” due to appeasement politics.
Referring to the politics of appeasement by the TMC, Shah said invitations for the Ram temple consecration ceremony were sent to both Mamata and her nephew (Abhishek Banerjee), but they chose not to attend it, “as they are afraid that infiltrators, who are TMC’s vote bank, might get offended.”
Hitting out at the TMC on the issue of graft, Shah said only the BJP can end the TMC’s “rule of corruption” in Bengal.
“A sum of Rs 51 crore was recovered from the minister, who was responsible for giving jobs to the poor. This money doesn’t belong to the minister, it belongs to the people of West Bengal,” Shah said, referring to Partha Chatterjee, who was arrested in connection with the school jobs scam.
Dubbing Banerjee as “Hirak Rani” in an apparent reference to the film “Hirak Rajar Deshe” by Oscar-awarded filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Shah said, “Satyajit Ray was a great artist and filmmaker. He made a movie – Hirak Rajar Deshe.”
“Had he been alive today, he would have made a movie named ‘Hirak Rani’, instead of ‘Hirak Rajar Deshe’. Mamata Banerjee is the Hirak Rani,” he said.
Criticising the TMC’s resistance to central projects in Bengal, Shah said the funds sent by the Centre are siphoned off by the TMC.
“On the other hand, the Modi government in the last 10 years has provided a whopping Rs 9.25 lakh crore. But this money did not benefit the common people as it was siphoned off by TMC goons,” he said. (PTI)
