Mamata Banerjee Supporting Infiltrators To Secure Vote Bank: BJP

BJP national general secretary P Murlidhar Rao on Thursday accused the TMC government of "throttling democracy" in the state and accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "supporting infiltrators" to secure her vote bank.

He mocked at Ms Banerjee for reaching out to various political parties in the country over the issue of the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

The BJP, he said, will never "tolerate" infiltrators.

"Mamataji is supporting infiltrators from Bangladesh ... She is touring the entire country to garner support for infiltrators just to secure her vote bank. She is trying to communalise the issue," Mr Rao told reporters.

But she did not receive support from any of the political parties on it, he claimed.

"The BJP will never tolerate infiltrators coming to India and staying in our homes. We will fight till the end," Mr Rao said.

Ms Banerjee had been at the forefront in opposing the final draft of the NRC in Assam that was published on July 30 and had sent a Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation to Silchar to assess the situation in the Bengali-dominated Cachar district.

The BJP leader said before talking about the lack of democracy in the country, Ms Banerjee "should look after her own state where democracy is being throttled on a regular basis".

He said, "There is a serious defecit of democracy in the state under the TMC. The BJP leaders and activists are attacked on a regular basis. During the last panchayat polls, we have seen how democracy was throttled in Bengal."

Referring to the proposed August 11 Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) rally, which is scheduled to be addressed by BJP national president Amit Shah, Rao said the TMC is so scared of it that they have resorted to "serious violence".

"But BJP will keep fighting in Bengal till democracy is restored," he added.

He claimed that there would be a massive turnout at the rally which will take the pledge to "overturn the corrupt and immoral TMC government".

Meanwhile, TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee termed the allegations levelled against the party as "baseless".

"We are not afraid of any rally by BJP. The people of Bengal stand firmly with Mamata Banerjee and the TMC," he said.