West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party was talking about creating a “Sonar Bangla” or Golden Bengal after destroying “Sonar Bharat”, PTI reported.
Banerjee said at a gathering in Kolkata that she was ashamed of the BJP’s actions. “Big lectures? Sonar Bangla? They finished my Sonar Bharotborsh [India],” she was quoted as saying by The Telegraph. “Street-fights in every corner of the nation. Farmers don’t get justice, workers don’t either. Mothers and sisters are dishonoured. Journalists get beaten up.”
The West Bengal chief minister accused the BJP of selling off the country. She said that the saffron party should “look into the mirror” before thinking of winning Assembly elections in the state.
Banerjee said that there was no alternative to the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. “No other party can take our place since the TMC has provided the most people-friendly government in the world,” she said, according to PTI.
Also read: West Bengal: ‘Mamata Banerjee will be left alone by the time elections are held,’ says Amit Shah
Banerjee also spoke about the political leaders who quit her party to join the BJP. “Those who are going to BJP should remember that they [the BJP] are rioters,” Banerjee was quoted as saying by NDTV. “Those who are going there, are doing it to keep their property and themselves safe as they have made a lot of money”.
In January, former West Bengal minister Rajib Banerjee and four other rebel leaders had joined the BJP in Delhi. Banerjee’s close aide Suvendu Adhikari had also quit the Trinamool Congress to join the BJP in December.
The Trinamool Congress and BJP have repeatedly traded allegations in the run-up to Assembly elections in the state, which are scheduled to take place in April.
A huge controversy erupted in the state last month as Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part in an event to honour freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose. Banerjee refused to speak at the event, after saying she felt insulted by “Jai Shri Ram” slogans that were shouted there.
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