Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the BJP is an "outsider" in Bengal.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today lashed out at the Centre, accusing it of conspiring to pull down governments in opposition-ruled states. In a bitter taunt, she also said the BJP should scrap the country's federal structure and create a "one nation one party" system.
Pointing to the political turmoil in Rajasthan, Ms Banerjee said the Centre is pulling down governments in opposition-ruled states employing federal agencies and money power.
"Why should Gujarat rule all states? We won't tolerate this rule of two brothers (Narendra Modi and Amit Shah). What's the need for a federal structure? Create a ''one nation-one party'' system then," she was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
"When the country is busy fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the BJP is busy destabilising the elected governments in Rajasthan and West Bengal after Madhya Pradesh," she said, adding her voice to that of the Congress, whose government in Madhya Pradesh crashed in March after its senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia joined the BJP with 22 MLAs.
The BJP, she said, is an "outsider" in Bengal. "People of Bengal will rule the state and not outsiders and people from Gujarat. We should strive to ensure that security deposits of all the BJP candidates get forfeited," she said, invoking Bengali pride.
The Centre, she also said, has deprived Bengal of resources and the people will give a fitting reply to the injustice.
Accusing the central government of "maligning, insulting and depriving" the people of West Bengal, she said, before pointing fingers at her state the centre should talk about the "jungle raj and encounter raj" in Uttar Pradesh.
"Centre is conspiring against Bengal, saying every day there is violence and lawlessness. What about Uttar Pradesh where jungle raj prevails? People there are afraid about even lodging a police complaint. Several police officers were killed in a single incident," pointing at the murder of eight police officers by criminal Vikas Dubey in Kanpur. "The main culprit was killed in a so-called encounter to hide the truth," she added.