Kolkata, Dec 30: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday described Union Home Minister Amit Shah as ‘Dushasan’ without naming him, and demanded his resignation, accusing him of failing to prevent subversive activities in the country.
Banerjee also questioned Shah, who reached Kolkata on a three-day visit to West Bengal on Monday, why this state is being blamed all the time for infiltration when a terror attack had happened in Jammu and Kashmir, and a blast took place in New Delhi.
The elections for the 294-seat assembly in the state are due early next year.
“Today, Dushasan has come to Bengal. Whenever elections are around, Duryodhan and Dushasan arrive here,” the chief minister said, without naming anyone, while addressing a public meeting at Barjora in Bankura district.
The Trinamool Congress supremo also criticised Shah over the issue of infiltration, questioning the Centre’s handling of national security.
“Does infiltration happen only in Bengal? Doesn’t it happen in Kashmir?” she said, referring to the terror attack in Pahalgam.
She also raised the issue of a car explosion in the national capital. “An incident took place in Delhi some days ago. Are infiltrators present nowhere except Bengal? So, was it you who did it?”
Banerjee questioned why West Bengal was being blamed for everything.
Earlier on Tuesday, Shah said in a press conference, “The infiltration happening through Bengal’s border is not just Bengal’s issue. National security is at stake. If a strong government is formed in the state, infiltration will be completely stopped.”
Shah also expressed confidence that the BJP would form the next government in West Bengal with a two-thirds majority, ousting what he termed the “corrupt” Trinamool Congress regime.
Hitting back from the Bankura rally, Banerjee questioned his performance as the country’s Home Minister, saying, “You must resign. You are the Home Minister of the country; you should resign.”
She said that Shah was no longer repeating the phrase “Ab ki baar, 200 paar”, and accused the party of misleading the public with exaggerated claims.
The TMC chief asserted that the BJP would be politically rejected, declaring, “You are saying you will win with a two-thirds majority. This time you are not saying, ‘Ab ki baar, 200 paar.’ I want to say, this time you should be out of the country.”
Banerjee further claimed that her party would return to power in West Bengal and take on the BJP at the national level through democratic means.
Shah also accused the TMC government of not providing land for fencing along the international border, alleging that infiltration through West Bengal posed a threat to national security.
Responding to the accusations, the CM said, “If land was not given, who completed the Tarakeswar-Bishnupur (railway) line? Mamata Banerjee did it. If land was not given, from where would ECL lands have come for coal extraction?”
She asserted that land had also been provided in border areas, saying, “Who gave land in Bongaon and Petrapole? Who gave land in Ghojadanga and Changrabandha?”
The Bengal CM also added that land had also been given for airports in Andal and Panagarh.
