KOLKATA: TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday targeted the BJP for its "double-engine" pitch, saying one engine runs on misusing democratic institutions and the other on recruiting "local agents" like AIMIM, ISF and AJUP to stoke "communal discord".
In a play of words, he said in a social media post that the people of Bengal will choose a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people and not a dispensation that is "off the people, buy the people, and far from the people".
"Double engine this, double engine that. You know what the BJP's real double engine is? One engine runs on misusing democratic institutions, weaponising the Election Commission to delete genuine voters, transferring honest officers to destabilise the state machinery, and illegally importing outsiders to rig the electoral rolls," Banerjee said.
"The second engine runs on recruiting local agents like AIMIM, ISF and AJUP to stoke communal discord, create unrest, split votes, and hand over advantage to the BJP. But the people of Bengal have seen through this dirty game completely," the Diamond Harbour MP alleged in the social media post.
Banerjee, the national general secretary of the TMC, said Bengal will choose "Maa-Mati-Manush", a political slogan coined by party supremo Mamata Banerjee.
Later, addressing a political rally in Birbhum, Abhishek Banerjee alleged that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has forced people to stand in queues for hours during demonetization, LPG crisis and Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
"The BJP takes hasty decisions every time without considering the consequences and their effect on people."
Accusing the BJP of plotting to omit lakhs of names from the electoral rolls under the garb of SIR, he said anyone whose name does not figure in the electoral rolls post-SIR, the TMC will extend help for them for re-inclusion of names into the poll list.
"From roads, to Parliament and in the Supreme Court, the TMC has always stood by the people," he said.
Banerjee alleged that the BJP has been trying to enrol names of people from outside Bengal into the electoral rolls here and asked everyone to remain vigilant.
"Several Form 6s have been submitted to the CEO's office. But we won't allow any wrongdoing. I scrutinise it in the evening, and our party is keeping a tab on such activities," he said at the rally at Hansan in Birbhum district in support of TMC candidate Kajal Sheikh.
Accusing the Modi government of labelling Bengali-speaking people as "Bangladeshis", Banerjee recalled that they had even pushed Sonali Khatun into Bangladesh, even though she and her family had been living here for ages.
Khatun, a pregnant woman who, along with two of her family members and others, was pushed into Bangladesh in June last year on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant, had returned to India through the Malda border on December 6 with her eight-year-old son following the Supreme Court's intervention.
Arrested in Delhi in June, these migrants are residents of Murarai in Birbhum district.
Banerjee said, "It was we who had managed to bring her back, offering her legal support."
Accusing the BJP of dictating people's food habits, the Diamond Harbour MP claimed Prime Minister Modi had once commented on eating non-vegetarian food during certain religious occasions.
"Will the BJP dictate whether we will eat fish, chicken or mutton? Will the rioters, rumour mongers, fake news creators, and outsiders dictate what we should eat?" he posed.
Banerjee claimed the TMC's return to power in Bengal for a fourth term will set the stage for the ouster of the Modi government in Delhi.
The TMC will play a crucial role in installing a democratic, liberal, progressive and inclusive government at the Centre, he asserted.
At an election meeting at Barabani in Paschim Bardhaman earlier in the day, he said, "When Yuva Sathi was announced, the BJP made sarcastic comments. But consider its overwhelming response, in Paschim Bardhaman alone, an estimated 1.42 lakh have enrolled for the scheme."
Accusing the BJP of blocking Central funds for various welfare projects, he said, "They stopped allocation for housing schemes, but Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has introduced Banglar Bari project under which 1.5 lakh families have roofs over their heads in Paschim Bardhaman."