KOLKATA: Another sharp war of words broke out between West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday over the CISF firing that resulted in four deaths at a polling booth in Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district on Saturday.
Calling it “genocide”, Mamata said, “They were shot in the neck and chest, not the lower parts of the body” and added that the 72-hour ban on politicians entering Cooch Behar — which prevented her from meeting the bereaved families — would allow “evidence to be destroyed”. The EC should rename the Model Code of Conduct the Modi Code of Conduct, she told reporters in Siliguri, north Bengal.
Rejecting her allegations and accusing her of “politicising” the deaths, Shah told reporters in Nadia district that it was Mamata’s “gherao CRPF” call that had provoked the clash. He also said, “A voter by the name of Ananda Burman was killed but Mamata Didi condoled only the deaths of the other four people as he’s not from her vote bank,” — a reference to them being from a minority community. TMC later said the CM had referred to all five deaths and the plaque where she paid homage on Sunday bore all five names, not four.