BJP cries foul as Mamata Banerjee asks TMC workers not to take insults lying down

Kolkata: With her government beleaguered by the agitation over the rape and murder of a young doctor in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday called upon her Trinamool Congress’ workers to stand up, resist and protest if the opposition parties insult them and their party.

Banerjee’s call to the TMC’s workers prompted the ruling party’s main rival Bharatiya Janata Party to accuse her of intimidating the opposition parties. "It is unthinkable and unprecedented for a chief minister, who is constitutionally bound to rise above partisan attitudes, to make such intimidating statements that pose a threat to democracy,” Union minister and state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar told journalists.

He also wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing Banerjee of making anti-national remarks by suggesting that if West Bengal were to burn, other states would also be affected. She "no longer deserves to hold such an important position", Majumdar wrote to Shah.

Addressing a rally of her party’s student wing, the TMC supremo said that the time had come to update the party’s “Badla Noi, Badal Chai (Not Revenge, We want Change)” slogan in accordance with the demand of the changing times and political situation in the state.

“The time has come to resist and protest when you are insulted. When faced with ugly attacks, do not take it lying down. It is up to you how you would respond,” she said.

The state BJP chief said that the chief minister’s comment could incite the workers of the TMC to take the law into their own hands and attack the leaders and supporters of the opposition members, limiting the scope for democratic dissent.

He also criticised the TMC supremo’s comment that if West Bengal were to be engulfed in flames neighbouring states such as Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, and even distant Delhi would also be affected.