Kill me to silence me, finish my party: Mamata to BJP

Former Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday slammed the BJP for planning to silence her and finish her party, saying the BJP will have to kill her to shut her up.

In a video message, Banerjee said, “You have to kill me to silence me … and you have spared no effort to do so,” launching a fierce attack on the Bengal ruling outfit.

Referring to recent attacks on the party leaders she said, “you have attacked Mahua (Moitra), Abhishek (Banerjee) Kalyan (Banerjee) … you have even not spared my house,” reminding how “many of our (ministerial) colleagues have been put behind the bar … they are languishing in jail and sleeping on the floor … you have paraded some of them with ropes tied around their waist … things (read eggs) are being thrown at them so that they cannot come out of their houses.”

Banerjee’s attacks against the BJP came almost in tandem with a statement released by former TMC MP and BJP Rajya Sabha nominee Sushmita Dev. On Friday, justified what she called “political somersault” saying her reason for quitting the TMC was its getting steeped in corruption and lack of direction.

“Yes I have changed my ideology from today because I could not have continued in a party which is steeped in corruption and there is a lack of direction in its leadership … While Mamata Banerjee is calling us back Abhyishek Banerjee is calling us gaddar (traitors) … this party has no future it is as good as finished,” she said. 

Banerjee’s statement also came two days after her party men taking part in a rally were allegedly attacked by the BJP men, leaving several persons injured. Her statement also came within hours of the police freezing another four bank accounts of her party.

Based on complaints lodged by Joynagar MLA of the TMC’s breakaway section Biswanath Das the Bidhannagar Police on Friday froze another bank accounts of the former ruling party leading to total number of such frozen accounts to 12.

The development comes a day after the Calcutta High Court appointed a special officer to oversee TMC’s bank withdrawal for day-to-day expenses, including legal charges. Das had lodged a formal complaint at the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station, alleging that party bank accounts contained proceeds from illegal activities, leading to several raids and subsequent freezing of the accounts.