KOLKATA: Amit Shah on Wednesday alleged that under the rule of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the erstwhile Left Front, Kolkata had turned into a “city of slums” where infiltrators were being settled.
The ruling Trinamool Congress hit back, accusing him of insulting the people of Bengal.
Addressing an election rally at Dum Dum in the eastern fringes of Kolkata, Shah charged the TMC government with using "infiltrators as a vote bank" and said Kolkata's lost glory needs to be restored.
"The whole city, indeed the whole of Bengal, should vote to free itself from infiltrators. Vote to restore Kolkata's lost glory. Under the rules of Didi and (previous) Communists, the entire city has today been turned into a kind of a city of slums (Jhoparpatti ka Sheher)," Shah alleged.
He said several cities across the country were becoming slum-free, but alleged that the TMC government had no interest in such measures.
"There are many cities in the country that are becoming slum-free. But Didi (Mamata Banerjee) does not seem to feel any need for that. She only wants to settle infiltrators in the slums and turn them into her vote bank," Shah alleged.
Stepping up his attack on Banerjee, Shah exuded confidence that the BJP would unseat the TMC in the assembly polls, the first phase of which will be held on Thursday.
"On May 4, counting will begin in the morning. At 8 am, the ballot boxes will start being opened. At 9 am, the first round; at 10 am, the second round; by 1 pm, the counting will be over -- and Didi, tata, goodbye. After a long time, good governance is going to begin in Bengal," he said.
The remarks sparked strong reactions from the TMC, which accused Shah of denigrating Kolkata and its people.
In a post on X, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) said Kolkata had long been celebrated as the "City of Joy", the "City of Love", the "Cultural Capital of India" and the "Gateway of Eastern India".
"Today, Amit Shah made his contribution to that list. He called Kolkata a city of slums. To Amit Shah, the people who live in this city, who built it, who breathe life into it every single day, are slum-dwellers deserving nothing but his disdain. This is how the BJP sees Bengal. This is how they will treat Bengal if they ever gain a foothold here," the TMC claimed.
The ruling party also described the BJP leadership as "Bangla-birodhi (anti-Bengal) zamindars" and asked, "Can you imagine what comes next if these Bangla-birodhi Zamindars are allowed through the door?" The exchange added another layer of acrimony to an already-bitter campaign in West Bengal, where the BJP has repeatedly accused the TMC government of encouraging infiltration and appeasement politics, charges the ruling party rejected.
The TMC, in turn, has accused the BJP of insulting Bengal's identity and using divisive rhetoric to polarise voters ahead of the elections.
(With inputs from PTI)