Will meet PM, raise issues of Tripura violence: Mamata Banerjee
Will meet PM, raise issues of Tripura violence and BSF’s jurisdiction extension: Mamata
(Eds: Adds fresh inputs, BJP reax)
Kolkata, Nov 22 ( PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during her visit to Delhi, and raise issues concerning the enhancement of BSF jurisdiction as well as the ongoing “atrocities” in Tripura.
Banerjee also said she may not join the dharna being staged by TMC MPs in the national capital to protest against “attack on party workers” in Tripura and arrest of youth leader Saayoni Ghosh, but will surely express solidarity with them.
The TMC supremo’s comment drew a sharp retort from the BJP which urged her to stop post-poll violence in West Bengal.
“During my visit to Delhi, I will be meeting the prime minister. Apart from various state-related matters, I will be raising issues concerning the enhancement of BSF jurisdiction as well as Tripura violence,” she told reporters before leaving for Delhi.
Hitting out at Amit Shah, the TMC supremo said the Union home minister “is yet to show courtesy” and meet the TMC MPs, who had been seeking an audience with him over the violence in Tripura.
“He (Shah) may belong to the BJP, but he is holding the chair of the home minister. My MPs have been sitting in front of his office since morning, but no courtesy was shown to them,” she said.
However, the MPs later met Shah and apprised him of the alleged attacks on party workers in Tripura.
Describing the situation in Tripura under the Biplab Deb-led BJP government as “atrocious”, Banerjee wondered why the human rights commission was “not taking a note of the ongoing use of brute force” in the Northeastern state.
“There is no democracy in Tripura. Several murders have happened. Goons with weapons are getting inside police stations. I don’t even remember how many people had to be brought to Kolkata and admitted to SSKM Hospital, having sustained injuries in Tripura.
“They (BJP govt in Tripura) are not even providing basic treatment to the injured. Where have the Human Rights Commission and Left Wing rights organisations gone?” she questioned.
Referring to a Supreme Court directive to civic poll-bound Tripura, the TMC boss said the order was being violated by the Biplab Deb government, and actions must be taken accordingly.
“The chief minister of Tripura (Biplab Deb) and his government are defying the SC’s directive. Despite the Supreme Court’s verdict, parties are being stopped from holding meetings and rallies. In Tripura, mockery was being made of the election process. If the government does not allow a political party to hold a meeting, then what will be the fate of the elections, I do not know,” Banerjee stated.
She claimed that the saffron camp is scared, having understood that common people have lost faith in it.
“The BJP never conducts elections; instead they create confusion among people. That’s why they are not allowing us to hold meetings in Tripura. I believe people of Tripura will give a befitting reply to the ongoing atrocities there. They (BJP) will have to face the music,” the Bengal CM asserted.
Talking about the jurisdiction extension of the BSF, she said the BJP was trying to use the paramilitary force for its gains.
“They (BSF) are not my enemy. They are also my friends. The BJP thinks it is safe if the BSF is safe. This is not correct. Every organisation or agency has a character of its own. Law and order in an area is a state subject. The BJP is utilising these agencies like the BSF for their party activities. I will not allow anyone to forcibly take hold of areas,” she added.
BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh dubbed her allegations as baseless.
“TMC leaders should be the last persons to talk about showing courtesy and violence. BJP workers are either rendered homeless or are murdered in Bengal every day,” he said.
“They are sitting on dharna in Delhi just to seek media coverage. What are they doing in Tripura too is a badly scripted drama. We have not forgotten what they did with our national president J P Nadda ji during his visit to Bengal,” Ghosh said.
He was referring to the attack on Nadda’s convoy during a political campaign in Diamond Harbour area in South 24 Parganas district in December last year.
The former state BJP president claimed that the TMC’s opposition to the extension of BSF’s jurisdiction is aimed at “securing vote bank”.
Banerjee, who is on a four-day trip to the national capital, is likely to meet several opposition leaders and hold discussions on ways that could be adopted to confront the BJP in the upcoming winter session of Parliament, starting November 29, party sources said.
Banerjee, chairperson of the TMC parliamentary party, will also hold a meeting with the party MPs to decide the party’s strategy on the floor of the house.
This is her second visit to Delhi since July.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
