NEW DELHI: Launching a fiery attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), West Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee drew parallels from Manipur violence as he accused the opposition party of creating a Hindu-Muslim divide in the state.
Addressing a rally in the tribal-dominated Salboni, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said, “You can see how the BJP creates Hindu-Muslim riots. The central government has asked me why I haven’t instituted a task force for the NRC (National Register of Citizens) exercise in Bengal. I want to assure you that I will not let the NRC take place in our state.”
Citing the recent violence in the northeastern state of Manipur, CM Banerjee said that the BJP is trying to unleash the same kind of violence in West Bengal.
“BJP is following the same pattern of violence in Manipur, where over 100 people have died. We want to go to Manipur, but they will not allow us. Earlier too, they didn’t allow our leaders to go to Assam,” Banerjee said.
“BJP, now, is trying to incite violence in Bengal, on the same lines as Manipur. They want to separate the hills from Bengal. They want to create fissures between Rajbanshis and Kamatapuris. They want to incite violence between Kurmis and Adivasis. For this violence, the BJP is pumping huge money,” CM Banerjee said.
The West Bengal CM was attending a rally where her nephew and national general secretary of the party, Abhishek Banerjee, was holding his Nabo Jowar program.
“You can continue abusing the Trinamool Congress, that might be your right. But all you are doing is spreading hatred. We are Trinamool, we aren’t like the state governments in Gujarat, UP or Kerala, who are out for revenge. We don’t want revenge, we want change instead,” CM Banerjee said.
Speaking about the attack on the convoy of state minister Birbaha Hansda on Friday night, CM Banerjee said, “She is a proud Adivasi and a state minister.” I still believe the violence is not the handiwork of Kurmis, but in the name of Kurmis, the BJP has created the violence and tried to attack Abhishek Banerjee.”
“Not just that, media persons were also attacked. The police will probe the incident, but one should remember that in the name of caste violence, no matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to harm Trinamool Congress even one bit,” CM Banerjee warned the opposition.
“I can tolerate everything, but I will never tolerate bloodshed. I will not tolerate threats and intimidation,” she warned.
West Bengal is gearing up for the panchayat poll, which will pose an acid test for all the political parties ahead of the 2024 general election.
TMC is trying to blame the recent violence in the state as an attempt to polarise the votes on religious grounds with the BJP, which is fast emerging as a strong challenge for the ruling dispensation.