Kolkata | West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today mounted a scathing attack on the BJP and said the party has resorted to “politics of killing” in the state and is using central agencies against opposition parties in the country.
Referring to the panchayat polls in the state, she said BJP members are working in connivance with goons who had earlier served the CPI(M). Ms Banerjee, who is also Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief, alleged that central paramilatary forces were used by the BJP during the last panchayat polls to put pressure on people to vote in its favour.
“The BJP had won just a few seats in the panchayat election in the erstwhile Maoist hotbed of Jangalmahal by resorting to politics of killing. The former CPI(M) goons are now working for them,” she said at a rally in Kolkata on the occasion of the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMC students’ wing) foundation day.
Ms. Banerjee said her government will not allow National Registar of Citizens exercise in the state under any circumstances. “We will not allow NRC exercise in Bengal. They (BJP leaders) are challenging us. If we are challenged, we will give them a fitting reply,” she said.
Ms. Banerjee said she will not “tolerate” if a citizen is wrongfully tagged as a foreigner. “We are Bengal tigers, we will not tolerate if an Indian citizen is dubbed a foreigner,” she asserted.
Referring to the increase in the number of NPAs during the BJP rule, Ms Banerjee claimed its number under the NDA is much higher than under the UPA regime. Continuing her tirade against the BJP, she said, “We don’t want foreign funds, but why is the BJP so interested in foreign funds?”
The Lok Sabha had passed a Bill to exempt political parties from scrutiny on foreign funds. “BJP is trying to dictate terms on each and every thing from what we should eat to what we should wear. Who are they to decide,” she said.
The TMC supremo, who was in the forefront of the campaign to oust the BJP from power, said she will fight tooth and nail to defeat the saffron party in the 2019 general elections.
“Besides money and muscle power, the BJP is using central agencies against leaders of opposition parties. Our motto will be to remove the party from power in the 2019 Lok Sabha election,” Ms. Banerjee said.
She urged students to keep a close watch on fake news being circulated on Facebook and Twitter by the “troll army of the BJP”. “Keep a close watch on fake news that BJP circulates on Facebook and Twitter. If they spread a fake news counter it. Don’t let them get away with fake news,” she said.
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