The political quarrel in Bengal between the ruling Trinamool, and the BJP in Opposition, got more intense on Thursday, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that the latter has an intent to indulge in dividing the society for reaping political dividends in the state.
Banerjee spoke while participating in a discussion, in the state assembly, focussed on the violent rural polls, and the law and order situation in the state. The discussion was necessitated by a motion made by Manoj Tigga, BJP’s whip and MLA.
The Chief Minister – relying on the information she had – talked about a recent meeting of senior BJP leaders. Without naming the leaders, Banerjee referred to a “planning” by the party that seeks division of the society (in the state) on the lines of religion and caste for getting benefits in elections.
Banerjee said that the BJP intends to gather sympathy of the scheduled castes and tribes in Bengal by projecting crime against women. The idea, she said, is to have a situation where the state government can be projected poorly. The chief minister said several groups – Rajbanshis, tribals, Gorkhas, Matuas, will be targeted.
The BJP, allegedly, will also create divisions in the minority community for political benefits in the election next year, and will fund any party which can divide Trinamool’s votes, she alleged.
Speaking for nearly 48 minutes, Banerjee pitched details of panchayat polls – high number of nominations, voting percentage, and the outcomes – to counter Opponent’s allegations, and termed the BJP as “anti-Bengal”.
As she brought in a reference to the Nandigram assembly constituency – the seat she lost to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the last elections – the BJP MLAs got up from their seats, raised black-cloth pieces, and they walked out of the House.
A day earlier, BJP legislators had walked out of the House, as a request by a BJP MLA for speaking on Malda incident – where two women were disrobed and beaten – was not entertained by the Speaker.
Adhikari, who also participated in the discussion, later said that the BJP legislators – seeking to make a motion of adjournment – had wanted a discussion on panchayat and post-poll violence, and deterioration of the state’s law and order situation. The proposal was accepted by the Speaker.