MALDA/RAIGANJ: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee likened the BJP rath yatra in West Bengal to the chariot Ravana used to abduct Sita and warned people, saying one vote for BJP would turn Sonar Bangla into “Dangar Bangla (a riot-ridden state)”.
“If you press the BJP button, you are inviting riots in Bengal. If you want free rations and free healthcare to continue, vote for Trinamool,” Banerjee said at Uttar Dinajpur’s Raiganj on Wednesday.
The CM hit out at BJP while addressing rallies in Raiganj and in Malda district of north Bengal, where Trinamool faced a rout in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. “BJP babus are holding rath yatras. I have all respect for rath yatra,” she said.
“I pull the Iskcon rath every year and have been to Puri during rath yatra. The rath there has gods Jagannath, Balaram, Subhadra inside. We have heard about Sri Krishna driving the chariot for Arjuna. Why are BJP leaders embarking on rath yatra? By doing so, they are posing themselves as Lord Jagannath. Ravana also abducted Sita and carried her off in a chariot. Are they making that kind of a rath yatra?” Banerjee added.
She used the Ravana imagery to dub BJP leaders “outsiders” desperate to wrest Bengal in the coming assembly polls. “BJP is trying to wrest Bengal with help of outsiders. They may intimidate you with central forces. Their plan is to run the government in Bengal on remote control. We won’t allow Delhi to rule Bengal,” the CM said.
She then explained why BJP was desperate to win. “No other state dared to take on the Centre like Bengal... They want to defeat Mamata at any cost. We will turn the tables on them and shape the course of the country in the days to come,” Banerjee said.
She pointed out that a high-end bus had been modified into a rath that “is like a four-star hotel with all arrangements of food and entertainment”. “There’s no use loving religion if one doesn’t love people. Our leaders should be like Gandhiji who didn’t divide people,” the CM said.
In Malda, Banerjee said CPM and Congress were “hand in glove” with BJP. “CPM, Congress and BJP have been dividing votes in Malda, leaving us with empty hands. Don’t vote for Congress or CPM,” she said.
“BJP has deployed a Hyderabad-based party (AIMIM) to split minority votes further. Trinamool is the only party that won’t bow down under BJP pressure,” the CM said in an attempt to consolidate minority votes in Uttar Dinajpur and Malda that have a 49.9% and 51% Muslim presence respectively.
Banerjee spoke at length on Adivasis settled in north Bengal, among whom BJP has made deep inroads. “Our government has adopted a host of welfare schemes for Adivasis,” she said. “Won’t we get seats from this district? I haven’t come here to go back with empty hands this time,” Banerjee added, asserting that Trinamool would get a huge mandate from Bengal in the assembly polls.