“The Sandeshkhali incidents were preplanned. The BJP had scripted it well. The truth has been exposed. I have been saying this for a long time. The cat is out of the bag,” Banerjee alleged at an election rally in Chakdah in Nadia district.
The TMC on Saturday posted a video on social media, claiming that the Sandeshkhali episode was a “conspiracy” by the BJP to defame West Bengal ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
“I have not seen the entire video. I will definitely see it,” she added. She also claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was vocal against alleged atrocities on women in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district but remained “silent” on the molestation allegations against the Governor.
“The Governor is a representative of the Centre. Have you seen what he is doing? He is accused of molesting a woman employee of Raj Bhavan. PM Modi gave sandesh (messages) regarding Sandeshkhali, spent a night in Raj Bhavan but remained silent on the alleged molestation incident,” she said.
The Governor dubbed the allegations as “absurd drama”. Bose had also said he expected more such allegations to surface but that would not deter him from his “determined efforts to expose corruption and curb violence” in the state.
“I have seen many photographs of BJP’s candidate, but I did not indulge in dirty politics like they did. Couldn’t you (PM) say anything on the (Ranaghat) candidate here?” she said attacking the saffron camp’s Ranaghat Lok Sabha constituency nominee Jagannath Sarkar, without taking his name.
Banerjee also hit out at the BJP on the issue of implementing the CAA, NRC and Uniform Civil Code in the country and assured the people that she would never allow the execution of these in West Bengal.
“Now, they are cheating the Matuas and Adivasis. They had earlier promised to give them citizenship. They are talking about the implementation of the CAA, and NRC….Now, they have added UCC, which is more dangerous. We will never allow the implementation of NRC in Bengal… We will uproot all these,” she added.
Addressing another election rally in Ranaghat Lok Sabha constituency in Nadia district, Banerjee alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government was turning “democracy into a jail”. She claimed that though the BJP was repeatedly saying that the BJP-led NDA will get above 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, it will “lose” the elections.
The TMC supremo asked, “Where is the acche din promised by them (BJP)?” Banerjee claimed that the BJP is planning to make “one nation, one party, one government, one leader, and send all others to jail.”
She alleged that the Modi-led government was turning “democracy into a jail.”
Banerjee asked whether the BJP was a washing machine, alleging that anyone accused of illegalities becomes clean if they join the saffron party. She accused the BJP of making false claims of providing various reliefs to the people from electricity to cooking gas or free ration. “We have delivered on promises made by us, from Lakshmir Bhandar to free healthcare under the Swasthya Sathi project,” she said. The TMC boss claimed that those who are already citizens of India were being asked to make applications for getting it again under the CAA.
Ranaghat constituency has a significant Matua population, over whose citizenship issue the BJP and the TMC have been sparring for quite a long time.