Express News Service
KOLKATA: Kicking off her campaign for the panchayat polls after 15 years and for the first time since her party came to power in West Bengal in 2011 Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the nexus between the CPI(M), Congress and the BJP in the upcoming rural elections will get washed away by the verdict of the voters.
“We are trying to form a grand alliance (Mahajot) against the BJP at the Centre. But the CPI (M) and Congress are trying to work with the BJP in Bengal. I will break this unholy nexus in Bengal,” the TMC supremo said while addressing a panchayat election rally here on Monday.
This is for the second time in the last ten days that Banerjee has criticised the Congress and CPI (M) for having a tacit understanding with the BJP.
Addressing a rally in Cooch Behar in north Bengal, where the BJP made deep inroads in the 2019 general elections, Mamata also targeted the Border Security Force (BSF).
“I have information that some BSF officials are visiting the border areas, threatening voters and forcing them not to vote. I will ask people not to be scared of BSF’s tactics and participate in the elections fearlessly,” she said.
While referring to the alleged shooting of villagers by the BSF last year, whom the border force claimed as smugglers, Banerjee said, “Police will lodge FIRs in such cases and the law will take its own course.”
“They don’t have the right to shoot and kill anyone. No one is above the law; it seems killing people in the Cooch Behar district has become a norm,” she said.
She also asserted that “law and order is a state subject” and the Centre has no role in it.
Her comments evoked a sharp reaction from the BSF Guwahati Frontier, under whose jurisdiction Cooch Behar falls.
In a strongly worded statement, it said the allegations are “totally baseless and far from the truth,” adding that the BSF “has never intimidated any border population or voters in the bordering areas for any reason.”
“It is to appraise that the allegations leveled against BSF by the CM West Bengal during a rally at Cooch Behar, is totally baseless and far from the truth,” the release said.
It said the BSF is a professional force entrusted with the responsibility of securing the international border of India, and “has never intimidated any border population or voters in the bordering areas for any reason.”
It pointed out that BSF personnel deployed for election duty are under the overall supervision of the local administration.
For their part, Opposition parties alleged that Mamata has begun campaigning for the rural polls as she is feeling the heat of voter discontent.
The BJP, too, dubbed the chief minister’s allegation of using the BSF to serve its political purpose as baseless. “Such comments are unacceptable and an insult to our security forces. This reflects the mindset of the TMC, which has been against the BSF since its jurisdiction was increased,” BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said.
The BJP-led central government in 2021 had amended the BSF Act to authorise the force to undertake search, seizure and arrest within a 50-km stretch, instead of 15 km, from the international border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam. This had snowballed into a major political issue in Bengal, with the ruling TMC passing a resolution in the state assembly opposing the Centre’s decision.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
KOLKATA: Kicking off her campaign for the panchayat polls after 15 years and for the first time since her party came to power in West Bengal in 2011 Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the nexus between the CPI(M), Congress and the BJP in the upcoming rural elections will get washed away by the verdict of the voters.
“We are trying to form a grand alliance (Mahajot) against the BJP at the Centre. But the CPI (M) and Congress are trying to work with the BJP in Bengal. I will break this unholy nexus in Bengal,” the TMC supremo said while addressing a panchayat election rally here on Monday.
This is for the second time in the last ten days that Banerjee has criticised the Congress and CPI (M) for having a tacit understanding with the BJP.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Addressing a rally in Cooch Behar in north Bengal, where the BJP made deep inroads in the 2019 general elections, Mamata also targeted the Border Security Force (BSF).
“I have information that some BSF officials are visiting the border areas, threatening voters and forcing them not to vote. I will ask people not to be scared of BSF’s tactics and participate in the elections fearlessly,” she said.
While referring to the alleged shooting of villagers by the BSF last year, whom the border force claimed as smugglers, Banerjee said, “Police will lodge FIRs in such cases and the law will take its own course.”
“They don’t have the right to shoot and kill anyone. No one is above the law; it seems killing people in the Cooch Behar district has become a norm,” she said.
She also asserted that “law and order is a state subject” and the Centre has no role in it.
Her comments evoked a sharp reaction from the BSF Guwahati Frontier, under whose jurisdiction Cooch Behar falls.
In a strongly worded statement, it said the allegations are “totally baseless and far from the truth,” adding that the BSF “has never intimidated any border population or voters in the bordering areas for any reason.”
“It is to appraise that the allegations leveled against BSF by the CM West Bengal during a rally at Cooch Behar, is totally baseless and far from the truth,” the release said.
It said the BSF is a professional force entrusted with the responsibility of securing the international border of India, and “has never intimidated any border population or voters in the bordering areas for any reason.”
It pointed out that BSF personnel deployed for election duty are under the overall supervision of the local administration.
For their part, Opposition parties alleged that Mamata has begun campaigning for the rural polls as she is feeling the heat of voter discontent.
The BJP, too, dubbed the chief minister’s allegation of using the BSF to serve its political purpose as baseless. “Such comments are unacceptable and an insult to our security forces. This reflects the mindset of the TMC, which has been against the BSF since its jurisdiction was increased,” BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said.
The BJP-led central government in 2021 had amended the BSF Act to authorise the force to undertake search, seizure and arrest within a 50-km stretch, instead of 15 km, from the international border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam. This had snowballed into a major political issue in Bengal, with the ruling TMC passing a resolution in the state assembly opposing the Centre’s decision.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
