Bengal lawless under Mamata Banerjee-led government, curbing democratic rights: BJP

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. File Pic

The BJP on Wednesday alleged that West Bengal has become a "lawless" and "bankrupt" state under the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led government.

A day after BJP workers and police clashed after cops prevented them from marching towards the secretariat in the state capital during their protests, the party hit out at Banerjee for inflicting "police torture" on its members to suppress their voice.

The BJP had launched a protest march against the ruling Trinamool Congress' alleged corrupt practises.

Former Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed Banerjee, saying she speaks of saving democracy outside the state while crossing all limits to curb people's democratic and civil rights inside Bengal.

Suggesting that intra-party rivalry within the TMC may be behind the use of force against BJP members, he said the chief minister's conduct has been "contrary" to her political evolution, noting her rise from the grassroots and long struggle against the earlier Left rule.

Is the fight for succession going on in the TMC, he asked, hinting about the reported differences between the chief minister and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee without naming the second most powerful leader in the regional party.

She has now left the Left behind in inflicting atrocities and brutalities on the BJP, he claimed, asserting that the TMC cannot stop his party's march in the state.

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"Under Mamata Banerjee West Bengal has become a lawless and bankrupt state," Prasad said.

Parts of Kolkata and Howrah district turned into a battlefield on Tuesday as BJP supporters clashed with the police while trying to get past barricades erected to prevent them from marching towards the West Bengal secretariat 'Nabanna'.

While the BJP alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government does not want to give space to opposition parties, the TMC described the saffron camp workers as "hooligans".

At the BJP press conference, Prasad also took aim at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the spree of firing in Begusarai on Tuesday and the comment of the state agriculture minister that his department was full of "thieves" and he was their "sardaar" (leader).

"What has happened to you Nitish Kumar ji in the company of your new friends," the Patna Sahib MP said.
Kumar had recently broken his party Janata Dal (United) ties with the BJP and joined hands the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Prasad alleged that the RJD's foundation is based on "mafia, corrupt people and corruption" and wondered how long the state government will last.

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