Kolkata, Mar 28 (PTI) The Trinamool Congress slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday with a counter to his “chargesheet” against the Mamata Banerjee government, accusing the BJP of trying to polarise the people of poll-bound West Bengal and evade accountability for its own record on a host of issues, including women’s safety.
Hours after Shah’s press conference here, the incumbent TMC questioned the BJP-led Centre over the prolonged violence in Manipur, women’s safety in BJP-ruled states and the Centre’s handling of illegal immigration.
Senior TMC leaders Mahua Moitra, Bratya Basu and Kirti Azad held a joint press conference where they targeted the Union Home minister over his criticism of the TMC government on women’s safety. “Amit Shah is talking about women’s security. What is the condition of women’s safety in BJP-ruled states?” “Shah should first answer about violence in Manipur, which has bled continuously for the past three years,” TMC MP Moitra said.
The counter-charges came after Shah, earlier in the day, sharpened the BJP’s campaign for the West Bengal assembly elections, releasing a political “chargesheet” against the TMC government and framing the polls as a battle not merely for Bengal, but for the country’s security.
At a packed press conference, Shah alleged that after 15 years of TMC rule, West Bengal had become the country’s “principal corridor” for infiltration because of the ruling party’s appeasement politics, corruption and political violence.
Rejecting the allegation, the TMC noted that the BJP has been in power at the Centre for over a decade and has been ruling several border states.
“BJP rules at the Centre. It rules 15 states and most border states through which infiltration is happening. Amit Shah himself is the Union Home Minister. So what exactly has he been waiting for?” senior TMC leader and West Bengal Education minister Bratya Basu said.
Questioning the Centre’s claims on infiltration, Basu asked why the Union Home Ministry had “failed” to identify and deport illegal immigrants.
“Why has the BJP-controlled Election Commission failed to release the names of foreign nationals found on the electoral rolls?” he asked.
In a separate statement, Basu alleged that the BJP was using the issue of infiltration to create divisions in Bengal.
“BJP wants to blur the line between Bengali and Bangladeshi so they can import their hateful Assam-style detention camp model into Bengal,” he alleged.
At the press meet Basu equated Shah issuing the chargesheet to a scene in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar where the perpetrator of crime occupies the judge’s seat.
Basu said Shah’s statement about change in demography in Bengal is based on “falsehood and misinformation” as his claims of finding names of lakhs of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in Bengal have not been substantiated by the Election Commission in the SIR exercise. “You want to repeat the Gujarat experiment here? You will not succeed.” he said.
Moitra said, “It is pathetic that he is standing before cameras to declare filing of chargesheet when there are cases against him by central agencies.” “When a clown sits on a throne, he doesn’t become a king, but it becomes a circus,” she said, describing Shah as a “clown”.
“In every BJP-ruled state, Shah’s party workers brand each Bengali-speaking migrant as infiltrator,” she said.
Accusing Shah and the BJP of insulting the culture and heritage of Bengal, Basu said, “They are giving the prefix of Swami before spiritual leader Sri Ramakrishna. Called Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as Bankimda and erroneously described Tagore’s birthplace. One of your MPs and ministers had once described Swami Vivekananda as leftist. You will never be accepted by the people of Bengal.” Presenting the counter-chargesheet, TMC MP Kirti Azad said, “The BJP government withheld Rs 1 lakh crore dues of the state and blocked money for all development and social welfare projects, which did not happen for Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan.” Azad described Shah as the only Union Home Minister having “cases against him” in history.
The TMC also accused the BJP of seeking to reap political mileage from the issue of infiltration while “failing” to act despite being in power at the Centre for over a decade.
According to the TMC, if infiltration remained a problem, the responsibility lay primarily with the Union government, which controls the country’s borders and security apparatus.
Releasing a booklet which listed the charges with a caption “Biswa gurur chadma besh…jabab chai” (In the garb of world leader you are skirting issues, we want a reply.) PTI PNT SUS NSD RG
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