Mamata Banerjee's two-day dharna in Kolkata ended today
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today ripped into the BJP, referring to the 2002 Gujarat riots and accusing the party of behaving like a "feudal landlord" sending critics to jail.
"They say there is genocide in Bengal. Do you understand the meaning of genocide? It happened in Godhra. It happened with Bilkis and it happened with NRC/CAA. What happened in Delhi?" Mamata Banerjee said from the stage of her two-day dharna in Kolkata.
She also slammed what she called the targeting of opposition parties through probe agencies. "BJP is behaving like a feudal landlord. If someone says something against BJP, they send them to jail. If someone says something against the BJP, they throw them out of the house. If someone says something against the BJP, they send ED and CBI after them. What an honest party they are. Not only in India, even BBC is saying it. We are with the country. We are not inclined to listen to anything against it," the Trinamool chief said.
Over the course of her two-day dharna ahead of the panchayat polls in the state, Ms Banerjee has doubled down on her allegations that the BJP is withholding funds to Bengal and misusing central agencies.
Yesterday, she used a washing machine prop on stage to demonstrate how criminal charges against politicians are allegedly cleared once they join the BJP.
The dharna has also seen her change tack for the 2024 general election. After initially announcing that the Trinamool Congress will contest the Lok Sabha polls alone, Ms Banerjee yesterday made a pitch for political unity.
Describing the BJP as 'Dushasana' and 'Duryodhana', antagonists from 'Mahabharata', she said, "I urge every political party in India to unite to oust this 'Dushasana' BJP government. 'This Duryodhana' BJP should be removed from power to save the country's common man as well as Indian democracy."
Following a heated exchange with the Congress over Ms Banerjee's TRP remark against Rahul Gandhi, the Trinamool sprung a suprise last week in a rare show of support after the Congress leader's disqualification as MP following his conviction in a defamation case.