The Trinamool Congress leadership on Tuesday told BJP president Amit Shah to stop thinking of "conquering Bengal" and instead concentrate on defending the party's government at the Centre.

The TMC was reacting to Shah's diatribe against the TMC government and his vow to uproot it at a rally in Kanthi in East Midnapore district.

Hitting out at the BJP national president, senior TMC leader and state minister Suvendu Adhikari said, "Amit Shah is daydreaming. The BJP should first concentrate on defending its government at the Centre. The people of this country have already made up their mind to vote them out."

"They (BJP) should stop lecturing others on democratic values and people's rights. Had they provided good governance, they would not have been voted out in three Hindi heartland states (Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in the December Assembly polls)", he said.

Reacting to Shah's allegation that TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's paintings were bought by chit fund owners for crores of rupees, Adhikari said, "The allegations are baseless. They (BJP) have been playing those old records for several years. Instead of making baseless allegations they should prove them if they have the guts."

At the rally, Shah had vowed to uproot the Trinamool Congress government in the state and said that if the BJP forms government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections, it would ensure that each and every defrauded investor in chit funds got back their money.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)