BJP plans weekend rallies across West Bengal to take on Trinamool

KOLKATA: The West Bengal BJP will organise rallies every Saturday and Sunday across all districts starting July 27 to counter the Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s ‘Bangla Birodhi Andolon’.

At the 21 July Martyrs’ Day rally, TMC chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared that she had “laid the foundation to uproot the government at the Centre,” vowing that “nobody can stop TMC” and asserting that she would not tolerate the “insult of Bengali or any other language.” Senior BJP leaders said they disagreed with Banerjee’s remarks and would hold rallies across various blocks to explain why her statements were “not right”.

A senior BJP leader called Banerjee’s comments an attempt to stir unnecessary controversy and spread fear among the public.

Responding to Banerjee’s concerns about Bengali-speaking migrants, another BJP leader said: “These are all lies. I opened a hotel in Bengaluru where most workers were Bengali migrants. There were no Bangladeshis. But if someone is Bangladeshi, they will obviously be identified as Bangladeshi.”

BJP leaders accused the Chief Minister of politicising the issue.

They also criticised Banerjee’s call to gherao the Election Commission over alleged voter list tampering in Bengal and Bihar. “She (Banerjee) has no other option, but this will definitely happen. The Election Commission must act. Fake and bogus voters have to be removed; only then will elections be fair,” they added.