Goondagardi won't work in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee said (File)
Union minister Amit Shah's parting shot today -- that he would come to Bengal again and again to campaign -- got an acerbic reaction from Chief Minster Mamata Banerjee. "We welcome him," the Chief Minister said, then added, "All the time he abuses Bengal. Come to campaign here. Don't try and threaten me. I am not scared you. Didi cannot be forced to do anything".
As his second programme at Thakurnagar today was cancelled, Mr Shah said, "Due to certain circumstances, my programme was cancelled, Mamata-di became very happy. There is enough time till April, I'll come here again and again, and will keep coming till you lose the election".
"I am ready for the game. I want to see how many goals you can score. If you have confidence, you don't speak rubbish. Your goondagardi (hooliganism) won't work here. This is Bengal," said Ms Banerjee who is seeking a third straight term in the state where she came to power in 2011, sweeping away the the 34-year Left Front rule.
Since the BJP victory in the election to the Lok Sabha and a handful of states in 2014, Amit Shah had marked Bengal as his big target, setting his party's state unit a goal of 200 seats.
But the BJP won only three seats in 2016, and Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress returned to power with an enhanced majority.
This time, the BJP is back with great confidence that rests on its sterling result in the 2019 general elections. From just two seats, the party managed to win 18 of the state's 43 Lok Sabha seats.
The BJP since has been leaning hard on the ruling Trinamool Congress, accusing its leaders and ministers of corruption, mis-governance and ineptitude. Amid a highly polarised situation, the BJP has also accused the Trinamool of resorting to violence to protect its turf.
Ms Banerjee today criticised the Union minister, saying the things he said, "The body language and the mentality and the threatening behaviour… doesn't suit his position".
"I was born on this soil. I have studied Sri Ramkrishna and Swami Vivekananda. You cannot threaten me," she added, rubbing in the outsider tag she has bestowed on the BJP.