Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday accused Mamata Banerjee of throttling democracy and said BSP chief Mayawati's personal attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed she was unfit to hold any public post.

The Minister tweeted: "Mamata Didi - Democracy has become a casualty in Bengal. Opposition workers are murdered, candidates are attacked, polling booths are captured and Opposition leaders are not entitled to organise rallies."

A rally of BJP President Amit Shah was axed after the land owner who had rented out his property withdrew his consent.

In an interview to a news agency, Mayawati mounted a scathing personal attack on the Prime Minister saying that he could not be expected to respect other's sisters and wives when he had left his own wife for political gains.

Jaitley tweeted: "Behan Mayawati - She is firm on becoming a Prime Minister. Her governance, ethics and discourse stoops to an all-time low. Her personal attack on the Prime Minister exposes her as unfit for public life."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too hit out at Banerjee for not allowing Amit Shah's chopper to land and let him hold an election rally in Jadavpur.

Addressing the media at the BJP headquarters, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said Banerjee was "crushing" democracy and the people will give her a befitting reply through the ballot.

"Amit Shah was to hold a rally in Jadavpur. Permission regarding the rally was sought four-five days ago. They (administration) suddenly denied permission at 8.30 p.m. on Sunday without citing any reason. At around 11.30 p.m. on Sunday, they also denied permission for landing of the BJP President's chopper there," Javadekar said.

He urged the Election Commission to take note of what the West Bengal government had done.

Javadekar said Banerjee was so rattled that she was seeing the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel as members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). "She is desperate."

--IANS

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