Launching a scathing attack on the police administration, Ghosh alleged most of the “police personnel don’t have the spine” to stand up to the “corrupt” TMC-led government.

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Saturday criticised the state police for its “partisan role” against the Opposition, and suggested its officials should “resign from their jobs and sell vegetables instead”.

Launching a scathing attack on the police administration, Ghosh alleged most of the “police personnel don’t have the spine” to stand up to the “corrupt” TMC-led government.

“Efficient officers have been sidelined and the incompetent ones have been given prime postings so that they can work as TMC cadre. Even their family members laugh at them,” Ghosh said at a “Cha Chakra [chat over a cup of tea]” programme in North 24 Parganas district’s Belgharia area.

He said the days of the TMC government “are numbered”.

“The corrupt police personnel are shameless. Instead of working as TMC cadre, they should resign and sell vegetables to lead an honest life,” said Ghosh, who is also the Medinipur MP.

The TMC came down heavily on the BJP leader, saying the police work in a free and fair manner unlike in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, where the police force “let loose a reign of terror in the name of fake encounters”.

“Under the TMC rule, the police work in a free and fair manner. Unlike Uttar Pradesh, the police force has not turned into an encounter squad. Dilip Ghosh should stop lecturing us on the impartiality of the police force. The people of West Bengal are well aware of the impartiality of central agencies like the CBI and the ED,” said senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim.

This is the second time in a week that Ghosh has lashed out at the police. On September 6, at a programme in Ghola in North 24 Parganas, the BJP leader warned policemen “working at the behest of the ruling party leaders”, and said everything was being jotted down in a notebook.