Abhishek challenges Shah to 'contest from any seat in Bengal'

Kolkata: Abhishek Banerjee, All India Trinamool Congress president and party MP, on Friday challenged BJP's All India president Amit Shah to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll from any seat in Bengal and assured that he will take all the responsibility to defeat him.

He was reacting to a statement made by Shah in New Delhi on Friday at the national conference attended by BJP leaders that the party is now targeting Bengal.

"We will request our party supremo Mamata Banerjee not to take part in the campaign and I take the responsibility to defeat him. BJP thinks that it has made a major dent in Trinamool Congress by welcoming a leader whom we have thrown out like garbage. BJP is no longer Bharatiya Janata Party, it is Bharatiya Janjal Party," said Banerjee while addressing a mammoth rally at Shyambazar five point crossing on Friday evening.

He said the people in the country are fed up with Narendra Modi and his gimmicks. "We have seen that after BJP lost the Assembly polls in three states, there was a fall in the prices of petrol and diesel and relaxation was given in GST. So ousting Modi will bring down the prices of fuel further," he said.

Banerjee said: "Despite best efforts, BJP has failed to create trouble in Bengal. They tried to incite one community against the other. Our religion is different from the Hinduism they preach. We believe in communal harmony and that religion is practiced privately. Our religion is humanism and we do not sell our religion to win elections."

He said Trinamool Congress is like iron and "if you hit it hard, it becomes stronger." He urged the party workers to attend the forthcoming

Brigade rally, where national leaders will come to strengthen Mamata Banerjee's hands.