Defeat BJP's divisive politics: Mamata
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamata Banerjee urged Hindi-speaking people in the state to fight unitedly for defeating the divisive politics of BJP in the forthcoming elections.
She addressed them at a conference held at Trinamool Bhavan on Thursday afternoon. Subrata Bakshi, party's state president, Abhishek Banerjee, president of Trinamool Youth Congress, four Rajya Sabha MPs—Manish Gupta, Dinesh Trivedi, Derek O' Brien and Shantanu Sen— and Jitendra Tiwari, former mayor of Asansol Municipal Corporation also attended the meeting.
Banerjee said for generations people from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab had been living peacefully in Bengal. When Banerjee asked the participants from different communities whether they had ever faced any problem in Bengal during TMC's regime, they answered 'no' in unison.
"We don't discriminate between Birla, Tata or Goenka. We work for humans and humanity. But, these people (BJP) work for destruction," Banerjee said as the participants applauded.
"I have given recognition to Hindi, Kurmi, Gurumukhi, Urdu and Nepali languages. I believe that if Bengalis have the right to read Bengali, then speakers of other languages should also have the same right" she said.
"It is the BJP, which is trying to divide communities by instigating one against the other. Earlier, they talked about Hindu- Muslim divide and now they are trying to divide the communities. Be very careful and remain vigilant. Foil any attempt to divide the society. Peace and communal harmony are the crux of Bengal's long-cherished culture and tradition," she cautioned.
Coming down heavily on Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who held a meeting at Jhargram on Thursday, she said: "He should oil his own machine. He never stood by the people of Jhargram and now has gone to beg for votes."
She said a Hindi university is coming up in Bengal. Referring to the "goli maro" slogan given by some BJP followers, she said: "They do not know that I am a street fighter and I know how to fight against evil."
Referring to those who attended today's meeting as " brothers," she said: " If BJP tries to insult me, I know my brothers will give befitting replies." There was applause from the audience when she said this.
"BJP leaders will try to convince you all that they are coming to power in Bengal. Don't get swayed. When a survey revealed that TMC is coming to power with 200+ seats, BJP forced the television channels not to show this and later it was brought down to 180. BJP has purchased most of the media and let loose the Income Tax, Enforcement Directorate and CBI on those who oppose them," she said, reiterating that TMC will come to power with more seats.
