In a fresh salvo fired at the BJP for calling Hindu God Hanuman a Dalit Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said the remark was made to insult the Dalit community who had been exploited and oppressed for generations.

Banerjee who was addressing a crowd at Keshiyari in West Midnapore district said “comparing Dalits to Hanuman amounts to belittling the community,” adding “today they call you Hanuman, tomorrow they will call you rats or cats or even dogs.”

The BJP had no job but to make tall promises, do nothing and create division among the people to garner votes, the Chief Minister said wondering whether renaming of heritage cities and making statues were enough to solve the problems that the people of the country suffered from.

“They have no work save setting one community after the other,” Banerjee said. “The only work they have been doing is changing the names of heritage cities and stations,” she added saying the main reason behind the BJP’s divisive policy was to polarise votes before the elections.

“In Bengal the BJP has no place,” the Chief Minister said adding the BJP was getting its strength from the erstwhile supporters of CPI(M).

“The CPI(M) had ravaged Bengal for three decades. Now after they were uprooted from this place their notorious criminals have now joined the

BJP to create disturbance in the State. But we will allow none of them to become successful in their nefarious designs.”

Attacking the saffron outfit for “ruining the once well-regarded institutions like RBI and CBI,” the Chief Minister said “today these institutions are being forced to function as organs of the BJP.”

Instead helping the State Governments to function properly for the development of the people the saffron outfit had been using the

Central agencies to browbeat them into submission. “But don’t worry in a few months time there will be no BJP Government in the Centre. They will be thrown out of power. We will make that happen. If we can throw the CPI(M) out of power then we can also drive the BJP away,” she said.

Saying how her Government had been working for the betterment of the people Banerjee wondered the BJP Governments had implemented schemes like Kanyashree, Rupashree for young girls, Sabuj Saathi whereby the

State Government distributed bicycles to the students and providing Rs 2 per kg rice to more than 8 crore people.

Wondering whether the neighbouring Jharkhand Government had implemented such programmes or whether the Government up there in Delhi had introduced Alchiki — the language spoken by the tribal people like Mundas Oraons etc Banerjee said, “We have introducedAlchki language, we have taken care of the tribal people, provided them with jobs and many other developmental schemes.”

Attacking the fake sadhus she said, “I adore the sadhus of Ramakrishna Mission and other religious orders who wear saffron attire but I do not adore the saffron-wallas that create division among the communities for narrow political gains,” Banerjee said and presaged “the Rath Yatra they are embarking on in Bengal will be an utter failure.”