India News | Mamata, Shah Cross Swords over Respective Track Records, a Year After Epic Electoral Clash

Kolkata/Siliguri, May 5 (PTI) A year after Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress steamrolled BJP to win polls to the West Bengal assembly, the TMC Supremo and BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah crossed swords on Thursday over virtually the same issues which had figured in their election campaigns last year.

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While Shah claimed the state was suffering from "cut-money culture, political violence and rampant corruption," Banerjee lashed back accusing the BJP leader who along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had led the BJP campaign in last year's polls, of “spreading lies” about Bengal while turning a “blind eye to communal violence and attacks on women in BJP-ruled states.”

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Reminiscent of the high pitched electoral battle, Banerjee and Shah also locked horns over the issue of implementation of CAA, with the latter claiming it will be implemented once the COVID wave is over, and the TMC Supremo claiming the legislation would never see the light of the day and that the BJP leader was misleading the masses.

The West Bengal chief minister claimed BJP is insulting citizens of the country by raising the issue of CAA, and said everyone who is a voter is automatically a citizen of the country.

Attacking the BJP, she said the party should "stop using CAA to fool the masses" and stressed that she believed, "Everyone having voting rights is a citizen of the country. How could they (refugees who are Indian citizens) cast their franchise otherwise?”

Shah on the other hand at a rally in Siliguri claimed "Mamata `didi' (elder sister) only wants infiltration to continue and is against giving citizenship to refugees who have come to Bengal. The CAA was a reality, is, and will be a reality." Analysts believe that the CAA statement was made with an eye on the Matua community, members of whom are believed to have voted BJP on the back of the promise of citizenship.

However, with Assam and other northeastern states being dead against the CAA, analysts believe the party would hesitate before implementing the law. The Citizenship Amendment Act promises citizenship to minorities -Hindus, Sikhs, Jews etc. - who have come from neighbouring countries between March 24, 1971 and December 31, 2014.

TMC leaders including from the Matua community have held that there are no illegal migrants in West Bengal and the Matuas and others who have come here as refugees are legal citizens.

Under Indian law anyone who crossed over as a refugee from East Pakistan till March 24, 1971, days before Bangladesh was declared independent, is considered a citizen of India.

Shah, addressing a public rally in north Bengal's Siliguri town, vowed that the saffron camp would not rest till the "tyrannical TMC rule" was uprooted from Bengal.

"There has been no let up in political violence, atrocities on BJP workers, corruption and cut-money culture (extortion) in the state.

"We had hoped that Mamata Banerjee would rectify herself after being voted to power for the third time. We waited for an entire year, but she didn't change. We will not rest till we uproot the tyrannical rule of the TMC. The BJP's fight will continue," he said.

Banerjee, hit back stating her government takes strict action against perpetrators of illegal activities regardless of their political affiliation, unlike Uttar Pradesh.

"He (Amit Shah) should focus on Uttar Pradesh's deteriorating law and order situation. He should focus on why journalists are being thrashed in Madhya Pradesh," Banerjee said.

The Centre is dispatching teams of NHRC and others to West Bengal following various incidents, but not to violence-affected Jahangirpuri in Delhi and UP where women are being attacked, Banerjee claimed.

“A tortured woman who has been trying to lodge a complaint has again been tormented in Uttar Pradesh. In Bengal, nobody dares to do something like this. Here, we take strict action against those involved in illegal activities without looking at the political colour," she said

“The job of the BJP is to divide people. Mr Shah only wants to cause divisions between Bengali and Hindi speaking communities, between Hindus and Muslims. Please don't play with fire" the chief minister told reporters after chairing a party meeting here.

Reacting to Shah's statement at a BSF programme that it is difficult to stop infiltration and smuggling without the support of the local administration, Banerjee said the Union home minister should not ask the border guards to overrule the state authorities.

“Your duty is to stop smuggling and infiltration. Your duty is to guard the borders,” she said adding that she has great respect for the BSF personnel.

As the war of words between the two leaders which started last year deepened, news emerged that Shah would be visiting Indian cricketing legend Sorav Ganguly, a man who it was once rumoured BJP wanted to snare for a leadership role in the party's Bengal unit which has been witnessing severe in-fighting.

Banerjee quickly retorted, stating "what is the harm? He (Shah) loves rosogolla (a popular Bengali sweetmeat) and I would urge Sourav to keep a large stock of Rosogollas."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)