Shova Majumdar, the BJP's worker's mother who was allegedly beaten up by some Trinamool activists last month, died today, inflaming West Bengal's already vitriolic political atmosphere. The opposition party played on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's favourite slogan saying "Ma, Mati, Manush" had been bloodied with the 85-year-old's death. The Trinamool, meanwhile, accused the BJP of "peddling a narrative".
Union Home Minister Amit Shah today tweeted: "Anguished over the demise of Bengal's daughter Shova Majumdar ji, who was brutally beaten by TMC goons. The pain & wounds of her family will haunt Mamata didi for long. Bengal will fight for a violence-free tomorrow, Bengal will fight for a safer state for our sisters & mothers."
Ms Banerjee responded saying he had remained mum during brutalities against women in Uttar Pradesh, a state ruled by his party.
"I don't know how the sister has died. We don't support violence against women. We have never supported violence against my sisters and mothers...Amit Shah is tweeting and saying 'Bengal ka kya haal hai'. Why does he remain mum when women are attacked and brutalised in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh?" Ms Banerjee said addressing a rally in Nandigram.
Three Trinamool members, too, have been killed in the past few days, the Chief Minister said highlighting that the Election Commission now controls the state's law and order.
On February 28, the BJP had said that Trinamool members had thrashed Ms Majumdar, mother of its 24 Parganas district worker Gopal Majumdar. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party called the incident fabricated. The elderly woman reportedly died early today morning, according to ANI.
A video of Ms Majumdar narrating her painful experience with a badly swollen face was shared by the BJP on social media last month. In his tweet today, Mr Shah posted the photo of her body wrapped in a BJP flag. Party chief JP Nadda, too, tweeted his condolences composed in Hindi, saying Ms Majumdar was "Bengal's mother and daughter".
Speaking at a press conference in Kolkata, Minister of State for Woman and Child Development Debasree Chaudhuri said: "She (Ms Banerjee) is doing processions, repeatedly attacking BJP, claiming that she was being attacked...Today, Ma has been bloodied, Mati has been bloodied, Manush has been bloodied. What will the state government do?"
Trinamool spokesperson Derek O'Brien tweeted that "the incident" was still under investigation.
West Bengal on Saturday completed the first of its eight-phase polling for the next state Assembly, with the BJP and the Trinamool involved in a high-decibel, vitriolic campaign against each other.
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