Kolkata: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that there will soon be no BJP MLA in the state Assembly, launching a blistering attack on the party and accusing it of trying to impose a “dictatorial rule.”
Her speech came amid sloganeering by BJP MLAs, which disrupted proceedings during a discussion on a resolution moved by the ruling party on alleged atrocities on Bengali-speaking people in other states, plunging the Bengal Assembly into chaos.
“Mark my words, a day will come when not a single BJP MLA will sit in this House. People will throw you out of power. The Modi and Amit Shah-led government at the Centre will also collapse soon,” Banerjee said in the Assembly. She also stated that the BJP has a colonial mindset and it wants to turn Bengal into its colony and run it by remote control from Delhi.
Sharpening her attack on the saffron party further, Banerjee said: “BJP is a party of the corrupt, a party of vote thieves. They are the biggest dacoit party. We saw in Parliament how they used the CISF to harass our MPs.”
She also accused the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union Home minister Amit Shah of being “anti-Bengal” and blocking discussions on harassment of Bengalis. “Bangla-birodi BJP hatao desh bachao (remove anti-Bengal BJP, save the country),” added the Chief Minister.
She claimed that the BJP was against discussion in the Assembly on attacks on migrants, as atrocities against Bengali migrants were happening in states ruled by the saffron party. She also alleged that the BJP is against the Bengali language, the poor, SCs, and Hindus. Attacking the BJP over the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in BJP-ruled states, Banerjee said the Opposition party does not want a discussion on the harassment of Bengalis.
“BJP is a party of vote-thieves, corrupt to the core, persecutors of Bengalis, and masters of deception. BJP is a national disgrace. They think they can stifle our voice in Bengal as well. Is this the extent of their audacity? Even if you chop my head off, I will continue to speak in Bengali,” she said.
When Banerjee stood up to address the Assembly, BJP legislators staged a protest and chanted slogans, questioning the suspension of Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on September 2. BJP chief whip Shankar Ghosh was suspended by Speaker Biman Banerjee for the rest of the day for creating disorder. As Ghosh refused to leave, the speaker called in marshals to evict Ghosh, and he was physically dragged out of the House. Five BJP MLAs, including Ghosh, were also suspended. The Chief Minister also slammed the BJP legislators for their “unparliamentary conduct”, accusing them of trying to disrupt a crucial debate on the rights and safety of Bengali migrant workers. When Trinamool Congress MLAs tried to counter the sloganeering of the BJP MLAs, the Chief Minister descended to the well of the Assembly.