The TMC supremo’s remarks came almost at the same time when the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties held a mega rally in Delhi.
Kickstarting her Lok Sabha election campaign from the Krishnanagar constituency, where the party has fielded former MP Mahua Moitra, the chief minister asked the people not to apply for citizenship under the Citizenship Amend Act saying that they would be then branded as foreigners.
“Today I want to say why you should vote for the TMC and not for the BJP or the Left-Congres. If you vote for Left-Congress and the new party (ISF), then you are voting for the BJP. There is an INDIA alliance in the country. In fact, I had given the name for the alliance. Once the election is over, I will look into it. But there is no such alliance between the CPM and the Congress in Bengal. It is only ghnot (confusion) and not jote (alliance),” said Banerjee.
Banerjee, however, lashed out at the Centre for arresting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “They arrested Arvind Kejriwal but they could not stop him from working. He is still working from jail. In the BJP washing machine, one Patel (NCP leader Praful Patel) went inside and now is free of corruption. This is washing machine Bhajpa,” she added.
Accusing the BJP-led government at the Centre of using central agencies against her party’s leaders, Banerjee said, “Every day CBI, ED and income tax teams are being sent to the houses of our leaders. Recently, an I-T raid was conducted at the house of one of our leaders (Swarup Biswas) for three days. If the BJP is confident of winning 400 seats, why are they sending CBI and ED teams to our leaders’ houses? Why are officers from Bengal being sent to other states?”
The TMC supremo said the CAA was a ploy to take up a National Register of Citizens exercise in near future. “In the CAA committee, they have put one member from the census department. Why has such a member been included if they have no plan for the NRC in future? The CAA is the head and the NRC is the tail. Why are BJP leaders not applying for citizenship under the CAA? It is because if they apply, they will have to declare themselves as foreigners and therefore cannot contest the election anymore. Recently, a youth who was worried about the CAA died by suicide in Sonarpur,” she said.
Banerjee said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guarantee was zero and “amder guarantee manush i hero” (our guarantee is that people are heroes).
Criticising Modi over his telephonic conversations with BJP candidates in Bengal, Banerjee said, “There is no secrecy. You have been calling them (candidates) and releasing their audio recordings in public. One of them (candidates) avails of benefits of Swasthya Sathi and Lakshmir Bhandar. The ancestors of the other candidate, whom you people call Raj Mata, had sided with Lord Clive. We do not support Mir Jafars.”
West Bengal will vote in seven phases, from April 19 to June 1.