JHARGRAM/KOLKATA: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee turned BJP's "tukde tukde gang" jibe on its head on Wednesday and said it was actually the saffron party that was trying to break the country into pieces by instigating communal riots.
"They are torturing people and killing people in encounters. Manipur is burning for four months and the central government is unmoved. They think they can divide the country into small parts by instigating communal riots. They do not have any regard for human life.
They just want to stay in office in Delhi by weaving a mesh of lies," Banerjee said while attending a programme to celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples in Jhargram.
Closer home, Banerjee targeted governor C V Ananda Bose - whom her party has called the BJP's man in Bengal - for his "overreach" and dared him to contest elections and become the CM instead of trying to implement the BJP's agenda from Raj Bhavan. "He meets students and tells them about corruption and riots.
Is that his job? A governor's post is constitutional and he cannot overstep his boundaries. He says he is doing whatever the CM wants done. I would appeal to him to form a party or contest on a BJP ticket and win an election before making such statements," she said.
Banerjee also slammed the governor for politicising the appointment of state varsity vice-chancellors. "He is not following any protocol. He has appointed a former IPS officer, who is close to him, as Aliah University VC," she said.
But the thrust of Banerjee's speech was the BJP and its failure to handle the situation in Manipur as she looked it up with the BJP's divisive efforts in Bengal politics. "It is instigating conflicts between Kurmis and other tribals and trying to create a Manipur-like situation. Lighting a fire is easy, dousing it is difficult,"she said as she appealed to the BJP to "refrain from the politics of murder and demonstrations so that people do not face problems".
"I appeal to you with folded hands to meet me or minister Birbaha (Hansda) or the district magistrate. But don't block roads,"she added. She then told the audience that the BJP had betrayed the Kurmis. "I have sent your plea for ST status to the Centre," Banerjee said, adding she had met leaders of the Kurmi Samaj as well as the Bharat Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal on Tuesday and asked them to keep the peace.
Her life's sole motto now was to drive the BJP out of office in Delhi, CM Mamata Banerjee said, as she raked up the issue of maltreatment of Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh and specified the incident in which a BJP worker from Madhya Pradesh had urinated on a Dalit man.
The Bengal CM was also upset with the Congress for siding with the BJP in Bengal despite being an ally in the INDIA bloc. "It does not have any shame. Every party should follow certain principles. We will have to fight them in Bengal like we fight against the CPM and the BJP if it continues its policy," she said.