KOLKATA: Political slugfest in poll-bound West Bengal has taken an ugly turn after BJP’s state president Dilip Ghosh on Friday attacked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying "she is acting like a bastard" and trying to convert Bengal into Bangladesh by raising the Joy Bangla slogan.
Sharpening his attack on the religious line, Ghosh said those who are not chanting the Jai Shri Ram slogan will be dragged to the fold of the BJP and forced to chant the name of Lord Rama.
Hitting out at the TMC on corruption and cut-money issue, Ghosh said, "Didimoni, are you falling sick on hearing Jai Shri Ram? You are trying to convert Bengal into Bangladesh by shouting the Joy Bangla slogan? You are living in the country of Lord Rama and acting like a bastard."
Ghosh made the statement while addressing a gathering at Joka in South Kolkata on Friday morning during chai pe charcha (discussion over a cup of tea), one of BJP’s outreach drives.
The TMC termed Ghosh’s statement unfortunate. "Two political parties can be arch-rivals in the electoral battlefield. But such statements targeting a chief minister is unexpected. We condemn the statement made by the BJP’s state president," said TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy.
The saffron camp’s chief of Bengal chapter threatened to flex muscles as well. "Those who removed our party flags in different places will have to join our party’s rallies with the same flags. If they don’t, we will drag them by their neck to the fold of the BJP," said Ghosh.