KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday issued a warning to her political rivals saying, “Whoever messes with us will be decimated”.
Mamata, who took part in Id-ul-Fitr celebrations at Red Road here, said, “Jo hamsey takrayega, woh choor-choor ho jayega,” which read in the given context, was aimed at the saffron party with whom she has had a running political battle since the Lok Sabha elections kicked off on April 11.
Mamata, however, did not name the BJP, but said, “There is nothing to be scared. Hindus stand for tyaag (renunciation), Muslims for imaan (integrity), Christians for pyaar (Love) and Sikhs for balidaan (sacrifice). This is our beloved Hindustan and we will protect it,” she said.
Reiterating her allegations over alleged EVM tampering, she said, “Sometimes when the sun rises, its rays are harsh but it later fades away. Do not be scared. The faster they capture the EVMs, the quicker they will go away.”
Mamata’s warning came on the heels of the killing of a Trinamool leader in Nimta area of Dum Dum by two motorcycle-borne assailants, whom the party described as ‘BJP sponsored killers’.
The BJP promptly put it down to intra-Trinamool clash. Trinamool leaders said Nirmal Kundu, 36, president of Ward 6 of Dum Dum had secured a handsome lead for Saugata Roy, who won the Dum Dum seat by 53,000 votes, the reason why he turned into a BJP target.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Ananda Roy said police have arrested two persons —Suman Kundu and Sujay Das and recovered improvised arms.
If the killing was the takeoff point for Mamata’s warning, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said none of his party workers were involved. “It’s the fall out of Trinamool’s own feud,” he said.
“During the campaigns, she had threatened us with inch by inch revenge, the reason why her parliament strength has gone down from 34 to 22,” Ghosh added.
Earlier, Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who took out a protest march against a hike in cooking gas prices, triggered another confrontation with the BJP by mocking its new ‘Jai Maa Kali’ slogan, saying the BJP has replaced its ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan due to its falling TRP.