TMC calls Amit Shah’s rally a flop show
Kolkata: Calling Union Home minister Amit Shah’s rally in Birbhum a flop show, the Trinamool Congress launched a blistering attack on him over a number of issues and stated that people were not interested to listen to his pack of lies.
On its Twitter handle, Trinamool Congress said no one in Bengal is interested to listen to him and, therefore, there were empty chairs in his rally. The ruling party also called Shah ‘a seasonal bird’. Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Abhishek Banerjee tweeted: “HM @AmitShah, you spoke of my imagined ills but didn’t care to address the harm @BJP4India has inflicted upon West Bengal. If my existence pains you to this extent, release the Rs 1.15 Lakh Crore rightfully due to my state and I’ll withdraw myself from the political arena.”
Meanwhile, in Birbhum’s Siuri, Shah said that if voters could ensure BJP won 35 of the 42 seats on offer, it would lead to a collapse of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC in the state.
Referring to the BJP’s performance in the 2021 Assembly elections where it became the principal opposition in West Bengal, winning 77 seats, Shah said: “Complete that beginning in 2024. Give BJP more than 35 seats and make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister once again. The only way to end the rule of lawlessness by Mamata Banerjee and her nephew is to usher in a BJP government.”
On the other hand, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “Only Amit Shah can make such an anti-democratic statement. What is the nation’s Home minister trying to indicate by saying that winning 35 seats in Bengal will lead to the collapse of an elected government? BJP targeted 200 Assembly seats in 2021 but failed to achieve it.”
He also added: “Shah’s rally turned out to be a flop show as people of Bengal did not respond. Cars were seen entering from Bihar. Shah has failed to answer 5 questions that Trinamool Congress had raised on Thursday. He spoke in an undemocratic and autocratic manner. Forget 35 seats; it will be difficult for them to get even one seat next time.”
TMC also criticised Shah for sharing the stage with Suvendu Adhikari who is allegedly named in a CBI FIR. “Why has there been no action against him? Shah’s silence again proved that BJP is a washing machine where all charges are wiped clean,” TMC leaders said.
“HM @AmitShah’s claims of LoP @SuvenduWB being a crusader against corruption in Bengal are laughable! The true colours of the chameleon,” TMC said.
The ruling party also said: “What spooked you, HM@AmitShah, into going mute in Birbhum? You can’t even answer basic questions without exposing your CORRUPT AGENDA! The @BJP4India is a bunch of SPINELESS LIARS who refuse to answer our questions.”
“A seasonal bird is here in Bengal but no one wants to see it! Mr @AmitShah, GO BACK TO DELHI and DO YOUR JOB. Clearly, no one in Bengal is interested in your trash-talk, your lies, your hate-laden agenda. Go spew venom elsewhere!,” read the Twitter post of TMC. TMC leader Shashi Panja said it was expected that Shah will not open his mouth on issues that matter to the state. “He didn’t speak a single word on the massive dues that the Centre is yet to clear. We heard nothing on MGNREGA or Awas Yojana dues,” she said.
Other TMC leaders like Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Chandrima Bhattacharya echoed similar thoughts and claimed that it was “shameful” how the Union Home minister chose to evade questions that matter to the state.
Shah is in West Bengal on a two-day visit to take stock of the organisational strength of the BJP in the state. The BJP had won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the 2019 general elections.
Mamata Banerjee’s party is unwilling to waste time in mitigating the Shah challenge on its Birbhum turf, in the absence of Trinamool’s district strongman Anubrata Mondal.
Sources in the Trinamul leadership said they were planning a counter-rally that would be addressed by a number of seniors, including minister and Mayor Firhad Hakim, this weekend.
