Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the BJP for its “failure to stop farmers death and bring back black money” stashed away in foreign banks and “success in driving away industrialists” post demonetisation and GST reforms.
Picking up from where she had left on Tuesday wherein she attacked the Centre for “depriving Bengal of our genuine financial claims,” the Chief Minister on Wednesday told a Trinamool Youth Congress rally about how the BJP Government at the Centre has “failed on its pre-election promise to bring back black money and deposit Rs 15 lakh each in each citizen’s accounts.”
Banerjee was speaking at the Babri demolition anniversary that her party observes as “integration day.” Attacking the saffron outfit for “dividing people in the name of language and religion in order to rule,” she said, “instead of stopping farmers’ deaths and bringing back black money they are driving away industrialists by pursuing draconian financial laws.”
At least 75,000 industrialists had fled the country she said swearing by the “immigration” records adding “if each person has taken away even Rs 50 crore with him then imagine how much capital has fled from our country.”
On the BJP’s sustained electoral successes Banerjee said “the media is writing about their success in UP rural elections but they are not raising the issue of how many votes they have lost in Gujarat. In that State they have lost 13 per cent vote share in the town polls but that will not be reported by the national media because they have been bought by the BJP.”
The Chief Minister said unlike the media in Bengal a large section of it had been “arm-twisted into submission and today they are beaming whatever the Centre wants them to do.” “When media is won over the country lands into emergency-like situation. Today India is passing through a super emergency where right to oppose and speak has been snatched away,” she added.
Even during the Emergency period of Indira Gandhi common people were not lynched on the roads and their food habits were not dictated as is being done today. “Even Indira Gandhi had to lose elections after emergency. So those who are perpetuating this fascist rule should be aware from now,” she warned.
Taking on the right wing forces for “criticising me on grounds of minority appeasement,” Banerjee said, “can I ignore the 31 per cent Muslims.” She tagged with them other linguistic and religious minorities while saying “I have a responsibility towards Muslims, dalits, Sikhs, Buddhists and even Biharis and UP wallahs who feel more secured in Bengal than in their own States. So how can I ignore their interests. And for that if some people call it appeasement then so be it I will go on doing my job.”