West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that the BJP’s tactics of bringing in a large number of outsiders for campaigning has resulted in the rise in number of Covid-19 cases in Bengal. Speaking at a rally in Jalpaiguri district in North Bengal, she accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of resorting to falsehood regarding the implementation of the NRC and NPR in the country.
“They (BJP) brought a large number of outsiders in Bengal for campaigning which contributed to the rise of Civid-19 cases here. We had brought the pandemic under control in the state, but the BJP made the situation complicated,” said Mamata.
The TMC supremo questioned the Election Commission's (EC) decision of prohibiting her from campaigning for 24 hours asking what was wrong in urging the Hindus, Muslims and others to vote together in a united manner.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is repeatedly ridiculing me at rallies. Why is the Election Commission not banning him?” asked Mamata.
She further alleged that Modi and Shah were misleading the people over the implementation of the NRC and NPR arguing that the Centre has not yet withdrawn the related bills and can implement the two contentious laws any time it sees fit.
“The Centre is yet to withdraw the bills on NRC and NPR. But the Home Minister said at a rally in Lebong (in Darjeeling) that the Centre has no plans of implementing the NRC. Don’t trust them or you may face the same fate of 14 lakh Bengalis in Assam. They (BJP) are trying to divide Bengal,” said Mamata.
At another rally she scoffed at the Prime Minister's claim that BJP will win 100 seats in the first four phases of the Assembly elections, saying that it will not even be able to win 70 seats.
Published 14 April 2021, 11:51 IST