Kolkata: Daring the BJP to topple her government, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has warned the BJP that a “wounded tiger is more dangerous than a dead one” on a day when West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah of the “grim situation” under her rule in the state.
She affirmed that the saffron party’s attempt to “topple her government” would not succeed.
Unfazed by the saffron storm, the West Bengal chief minister accused the Centre and BJP of trying to trigger riots in the state. Ms Banerjee also alleged that the saffron party was attempting to turn Bengal into Gujarat. She also thanked her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar for not offering the JD(U)’s support to the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. “I can tell you that the BJP will be unmasked with the passing of every day. There will be nothing to gain in sending me to jail,” she said at Nabanna, the state secretariat on Monday.
Ms Banerjee added, “I am ready to do anything. But I do not allow anyone to play with the honour of Bangla Maa.”
She also blamed the BJP of spreading falsehoods about the violent clash between the Trinamul and BJP workers, which clai-med six lives at Sande-shkhali in Basirhat of North 24 Parganas. “Two-three incidents took place and that too due to the BJP after the Lok Sabha polls. They have started thinking themselves as God. Even God would have been surprised if he was there,” the Trinamul chief claimed.
She argued, “But we controlled those incidents. They say five people are missing and dead when only two people were killed. They are lying. Why did the media write the death toll was four-five? Only yesterday I saw a BJP leader claiming three people were missing without sharing their identities and addresses. Peace still exists in Bengal. Girls can roam around peacefully at night. It is nowhere else.”
Ms Banerjee also alleged that the BJP was spending crores trying to trigger riots. “If there are riots, the Centre cannot shirk its responsibility. Their game plan is to throttle my voice because they know that Mamata Banerjee is the only person in the country to raise her voice against them.”
She added, “This conspiracy to bring down our government will not succeed. Bengal is not Gujarat. In Uttar Pradesh, kids have been murdered. We will not let it happen here. After winning the election the BJP is trying to create unrest here. BJP national leaders are creating problems. But we will not bow down to them.”
