Union home minister and the BJP’s chief strategist Amit Shah launched a no-holds barred attack on the Mamata Banerjee today, accusing her MPs of gross misconduct and her government of keeping the state stagnant. The BJP, he claimed, will win more than 35 of the state’s 40 parliamentary seats next year, he added.
Speaking to the party’s IT cell in Kolkata today, Mr Shah cited Trinamool Congress’s Mahua Moitra, who was recently expelled from the Lok Sabha over a cash-for-query row.
“Didi’s MP shares her password with businessmen in exchange for gifts and now she is trying to safeguard that MP. How many questions were asked about the poor in Bengal? They will never do that because the poor cannot give them expensive gifts,” Amit Shah said.
He then took on Kalyan Banerjee, the Trinamool MP in the eye of the storm for his mimicry of Rajya Sabha chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar. “Her MP also mimics the Vice President. Does it behove an MP?” Mr Shah questioned.
Then, in a direct jab at the Chief Minister — known for her simple tastes and lifestyle — he said, “The cut money collected from Bengal is used to buy palatial mansions in foreign countries but the same people roam around here in hawai chappal”. Ms Banerjee is rarely seen in anything except in her trademark white saree and rubber slippers.
Mr Shah’s visit comes as the BJP is pinning its hopes on sweeping Bengal’s parliamentary seats – a goal that stayed out of reach in 2019. The BJP’s chief strategist predicted the party will win more than 35 of Bengal’s 40 seats next year – up from 18 in 2019.
In this, the role of the party’s IT cell will be pivotal, he said.
This, he said, is because the regional media “does not carry the message of the BJP, fearing Didi”.
“If you all social media warriors decide, you can have more reach than any channel or newspaper and no one can stop you from making Modi-ji win. That is the reason you have the biggest responsibilities,” he added.
