'Release a charge sheet against yourselves', CM Mamata Banerjee counters BJP

Kolkata, March 29 (IANS) Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday criticised the BJP’s ‘charge sheet’ against her government and asked it to first publish a "charge sheet against the Central government". 

Addressing an election rally at Manbazar in Purulia district, CM Banerjee, without taking HM Shah's name, said, "Yesterday, a very prominent leader of the BJP released a charge sheet against the Trinamool party. I say: first, release a charge sheet against yourselves, provide an account of how many people you have killed through riots. Where were you when Gujaratis were brought to Delhi from America in handcuffs and transported by plane? It seems you have nothing better to do than engage in idle mischief. They do not listen to the people; their sole agenda is to strike people's names off the electoral rolls. Rioters, autocrats, destroyers of democracy... let no one cast a vote for them."

On Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during a press conference in Kolkata, submitted a 35-page charge sheet against the Trinamool Congress government, criticising it over the issue of law and order, infiltration and corruption. He said the election was a battle not merely for the state, but for the country's security.

Responding to HM Shah's 'bandage' remark against her, the Chief Minister said, "Apparently, before elections, I go around wearing a bandage. I have returned from the jaws of death time and again. Go to the hospital and check the medical records. During the last election, it was your people who deliberately injured my leg. Are you planning to attack me again? A plan is usually hatched before attempting to assassinate someone’s character. Is that what is happening here?"

Amit Shah, on Saturday, accused the Chief Minister of playing imaginary victim cards before any election. "As soon as the elections come, Mamata Banerjee either breaks her leg or falls ill. She seeks people's sympathy by showing some illness or another. But that ploy will not work out this time," he said.

Reacting to such remarks, CM Banerjee targeted him by saying, "During the 2021 (Assembly) elections, you deliberately inflicted an injury upon my leg. Yet, I campaigned in a wheelchair. This is not merely character assassination. It is a conspiracy to kill me. But you know the saying: 'If Krishna protects, who can harm?' Perpetrators always leave behind traces of their crime."

Meanwhile, CM Banerjee asked people to consider her as the candidate for the Assembly polls. "You need not look at who the candidate is; I am the candidate. Place your trust in me and cast your vote. The Trinamool will form the government. No matter how many conspiracies you hatch, they will all come to nothing. Let unrest never return to the Jangalmahal region again."

--IANS

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