Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday launched an attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging that she and Humayun Kabir – the legislator whom she removed from the party last year for planning to build a mosque on the lines of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya – are of the same type.
“Humayun Kabir and Mamata come from the same mould. He wants to establish Babri Mosque in Bengal. Mamata should listen to this, BJP will come to power and stop the mosque,” Shah said at a rally of the BJP in Raniganj in West Burdwan district, which will go to the polls in the first two-phase parliamentary elections on April 23.
Shah accused Banerjee of “opposing” the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya and compared it with Kabir’s initiative to build a mosque at Beldanga in Murshidabad on the lines of the demolished Babri Mosque in Ayodhya.
Shah’s remarks came amid a row over a video released by senior TMC leaders on April 9, which they claimed proved that Kabir, the Aam Janata Party (AMJP) Unnayan chief and Bharatpur MLA, was in touch with BJP leaders and mobilized Muslim votes against the Trinamool Congress (TMC). $1000 Crores. HT was unable to verify the authenticity of the clip.
Shah had earlier denied the allegation made in the alleged video. “You are not aware of Mamata ji’s capabilities. She can produce 2,000 videos like this. Humayun Kabir and the BJP are like the North Pole and the South Pole. We can never meet,” Shah had said on April 10. Banerjee claimed on April 12 that the BJP had “struck $1000 Crore deal with Kabir to defeat TMC.
19 states and centers united against me: Mamata
Meanwhile, in a speech she delivered at back-to-back rallies in Suri in Birbhum, Jalsi in Purba Bardhaman, and Durgapur in Paschim Bardhaman on Monday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that 19 states and the Center have come together to confront her, and she is fighting alone for the common people. She appeared to be referring to the 19 states ruled by the BJP-led NDA. She said the BJP would not be able to win the West Bengal elections using troops from Delhi. “The TMC will get more than 226 seats in the Bengal Assembly elections,” she said.
She alleged that the BJP was threatening and intimidating people to secure votes, and challenged the party to act against her. In an apparent reference to Shah, she said: “Mota bhai (elder brother in Gujarati) believes that by threatening people, they will get votes.” “Do you think you’ll get votes that way? Send me to prison, and I’ll get even more votes from there. Otherwise they’ll shoot me dead?” She said.
