West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday challenged the Bharatiya Janata Party to prove Amit Shah’s claim that she sold her paintings to chit fund owners for crores of rupees, PTI reported. The Bharatiya Janata Party chief had on Tuesday at a rally in East Midnapore district alleged that Banerjee’s paintings were bought by chit fund owners for crores of rupees.
The Trinamool Congress leader said her party has issued a notice to Shah for his defamatory remarks.
“Some half-educated and illiterate leaders from Delhi are saying I have taken money for my paintings,” The Indian Express quoted Banerjee as saying. “Prove it that I have taken a single paisa into my account. I challenge you to prove it. They are speaking in an uncivilised manner without showing evidence.”
Addressing a state government event in Birbhum, Banerjee countered Shah’s claims that her administration copies the central government’s schemes. “I challenge these leaders to prove what they said or leave politics,” she said. “Our Kanyashree scheme was launched in 2013. Their Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme was launched in 2015. Our Nirmal Bangla scheme was launched much before their Swach Bharat Scheme. We pay the money for farmers insurance. They are only speaking lies. If I am saying wrong then cut my head. They don’t know anything except indulging in riots.”
Banerjee said, if needed, her party will file a defamation suit against Shah. “You [BJP leaders] talk like a barbarian and have no minimum courtesy,” she added.
She further said: “Look at their audacity. How can they state this allegation? I have fought in my entire life since my younger days. I have never bowed down in front of anybody. I am not scared against any form of threat.”
She also alleged that central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation were being used to threaten opposition leaders. She accused the BJP of trying to destroy the federal structure of the country. “Your [BJP-led central government] expiry date has been declared. Please expire politically. We will be very happy to see,” she added.
On Tuesday, Shah promised to crackdown on alleged irregularities in the state if his party is voted to power. “She is a very good painter,” NDTV quoted Shah as saying at a rally. “Do you know how many rupees her paintings sell for? Not 20,000 or 50,000. Chit fund owners bought her paintings for crores of rupees.”
“If she becomes chief minister, will she crackdown on the chit fund wallas? No!”
Soon after his rally on Tuesday, the BJP alleged that Trinamool Congress workers had ransacked and set afire buses in which the saffron party’s workers were returning from Shah’s rally, PTI reported. On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress claimed that the BJP workers had vandalised its party office in Kanthi.
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