BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, the once close aide to Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee, took potshots at the West Bengal Chief Minister on Wednesday, 10 March, terming her as an outsider in Nandigram, the high-profile East Midnapore constituency where the two seasoned politicians will cross swords in the coming Assembly elections.
"I am a 'bhoomiputra' (son of the soil) in Nandigram and a regular voter here. She does not even cast her vote in Nandigram. I know this place and its people for several years, unlike Banerjee who has come to Nandigram only for the elections," said Adhikari, who had won from Nandigram on a Trinamool Congress ticket in 2016 before jumping ship to the BJP in December last year.
Adhikari also said that the people duped by multi-crore chit fund scams in West Bengal would get their money back if the saffron party is voted to power, holding the Trinamool leadership responsible for the scams which ‘duped the public of crores of rupees.’
“Now, Banerjee has stopped saying Inshallah. We saw that she took an offence to the Jai Shri Ram chant during Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth centenary celebrations in January this year. Yesterday, she wore slippers inside a temple. She is a Banerjee, a Brahmin, then why does she have to say that she is a Hindu.”BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari
Earlier, Banerjee had declared at a rally in Nandigram in January this year that she would contest from Nandigram. Accordingly, the state's ruling Trinamool Congress announced her candidature from the high-profile constituency.
In response, the saffron unit also announced Adhikari's name as its candidate from the Nandigram seat.
At the rally on Wednesday, Adhikari also played recordings of Chandipath (holy chant) and then replayed Banerjee's version. "All her mantras were wrong," he said, mocking Banerjee.
The BJP's Nandigram candidate further attacked Banerjee for using the Hindu religion for politics.
"I have requested Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to come to Nandigram and deliver a speech. Yogiji can chant the correct mantras, he should be brought here once to correct Mamata Banerjee's chants," Adhikari said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Banerjee filed her nomination as a Trinamool candidate from Nandigram at the Haldia sub-divisional office. The chief minister took part in a 2-km roadshow in Haldia before filing her nomination, accompanied by the party’s state President Subrata Bakshi.
The 294-member West Bengal Assembly will go to the polls in eight phases from 27 March to 29 April. The results will be declared on 2 May.
(This story has been published in an arrangement with IANS)
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