Singur & Nandigram have no parallels, says Mamata in Sandeshkhali backdrop

Slamming the BJP leaders who had compared the Sandeshkhali incident with that of Singur and Nandigram, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that one place or incident cannot be compared to another.

Banerjee hinted that this could be an attempt by the BJP to trigger communal tension in the state and she therefore urged the people not to compare one incident to another which could lead to communal tension. Khalistani jibe at a Sikh Indian Police Service (IPS) officer showed the “real communal face” of the BJP, she alleged.

“If someone wears a turban, he is being called Khalistani. If they (BJP) see a Muslim name they will call him Pakistani. They should ask themselves what they are. Places like Singur, Nandigram, Khatra, Bishnupur are all different from each other as far as their characteristics and geographical locations are concerned,” Banerjee said while addressing a public distribution programme in Bankura. She did not however take the name of Sandeshkhali.

She also urged the people: “Do not commit any mistake by triggering communal tension by comparing one incident to another. I don’t want any type of oppression or bloodshed anywhere.” In an apparent attack on the BJP, she further stated: “Those who are uttering high-sounding words must know that I know many secrets. Should I unearth their secrets? I never support a wrong thing.”

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata earlier had strongly condemned the incident of calling a Sikh IPS officer “Khalistani” allegedly by Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari in Dhamakhali. The Trinamool Congress had also blamed the BJP for trying to aggravate the situation in restive Sandeshkhali in North 24-Parganas that has been simmering since January, with accusations of sexual assault, land grabs by Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his associates.

State BJP leaders had compared the Sandeshkhali incident with that of Singur and Nandigram, attracting criticism from the ruling party in Bengal. The ruling Trinamool Congress alleged that the BJP compared two completely different incidents with each other only to create trouble ahead and Lok Sabha elections and get some political advantage out of it.

Besides the BJP, Trinamool Congress chief, Banerjee also criticized a section of media who, she claimed, only gives coverage to the BJP. She said that false propaganda is being carried out through social media, television and YouTube.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Banerjee on Wednesday inaugurated around 114 projects at a cost of Rs 286 crore and laid the foundation stone of 120 more projects in Bankura which would cost the government Rs 866.75 crore.

The Chief Minister said that the number of 100 days workers in the state who have been deprived by the Centre has gone up to 59 lakhs from 21 lakhs.

She said that Bengal has set a target to ensure drinking water to 7.41 lakh households in Bankura under ‘Jal Sapna’ projects. “Out of this, in 4 lakh houses, we have already supplied drinking water,” Banerjee said.