Union Minister Giriraj Singh has launched a scathing attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of appeasing Muslims and protecting infiltrators, as the BJP ramps up its campaign ahead of the upcoming elections.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Friday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of holding a sit-in in the heart of the city to protect infiltrators belonging to the minority community and labelling her as 'anti-Hindu."
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme, Singh alleged that the Trinamool Congress government would soon be voted out of power and warned "partisan state government officials and lumpens sheltered by the TMC" to mend their ways or face consequences.
"Banerjee is only interested in saving the infiltrators belonging to the Muslim community, which constitutes the bulk of her vote bank. She should be ashamed that she is holding a sit-in protest to save infiltrators, with whose help she managed to win the previous elections. But not any more," the senior BJP leader said.
Later addressing a 'Parivartan Yatra' rally at Narayangarh in Paschim Medinipur district, Singh described the Mamata Banerjee-led government as "anti-Hindus, anti-Bengali Hindus and appeasement-friendly towards Muslims under whose reign the state is turning into West Bangladesh."
Referring to Direct Action Day in 1946, he said after the call by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, which led to the killing of thousands of Bengali Hindus in the city, "a patriotic Hindu strongman like Gopal Mukherjee united Hindu youths who combated the onslaught of fundamentalists and saved innocent lives".
"We need a Gopal Mukherjee in every household of Bengal today to fight the challenges of Islamist jihadis. Bring BJP to power, we will ensure safety of every Bengali Hindu," Singh said in a shrill polarisation pitch aimed at consolidating the Hindu vote bank ahead of the Assembly polls.
"If Mamata Banerjee is in power this time again, it will be next to impossible to stop the demographic change in Bengal and save Bengali Hindus. We have to vote out this Mamata Banerjee government from the root," he added.
"Hindus were brutally killed in Murshidabad by Islamist jihadis last year, but Mamata Banerjee could not prevent that and allowed the situation to drift," he alleged.
Accusing Banerjee of raising hue and cry over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to save her vote bank of infiltrators, he said, "She may try to commit irregularity of voting, but will not succeed this time."
"Mamata didi shouts about SIR but keeps mum on the loss of jobs of 26,000 teachers due to the recruitment scam involving her party leaders and ministers," he alleged.
Bengal's people are waiting for this 'Ravan Raaj' to go and 'Ram Rajya' to usher in with the double-engine government, he said.
He said if the BJP formed the government in the state, it would expedite the investigation into the alleged teaching job scam and ensure that those responsible, including the kingpins, were brought to book.
Listing the party's promises, Singh said that like some other BJP-ruled states, women would receive Rs 3,000 in their bank accounts every month.
He also alleged that crores of rupees allocated by the Union government for welfare schemes were siphoned off by TMC leaders, depriving people of benefits such as wages under the rural employment scheme and housing assistance.
Singh claimed that the Rs 15 lakh-crore central grant given to the state had been gobbled up by TMC functionaries, "who have built palatial homes and changed from cycle to luxury four wheelers in 15 years."
The Union Textiles Minister further said both the CPI(M) and the TMC had encouraged "goondaism" in the state.
"Muscle flexing and intimidation by the TMC will not succeed anymore as the BJP will counter such strong-arm tactics," he said.
After the speech, Singh flagged off the rath in Paschim Medinipur district.
The rally, consisting of flower-decked trucks draped in saffron colours, was among the nine 'Parivartan Yatra' being taken out by the BJP across Bengal from March 1 to 10 as part of a mass outreach programme ahead of the Assembly polls.