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BJP hired goondas from Bihar to riot in Bengal: Mamata Banerjee
The BJP hires people to incite riots and violence, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said as she addressed party workers in East Midnapur’s Khejuri. This comes days after Howrah and Hooghly erupted in clashes during the Ram Navami processions.
“I had to be alert all the time and be on the lookout for when and where the BJP would go and create riots. These people do not understand that the people of Bengal do not like riots. We don’t riot and the common people don’t riot. If BJP can’t do it, they hire people to incite riots,” Mamata Banerjee said about the Ram Navami clashes in the state.
“They are bringing hooligans from Bihar. They entered Howrah with bulldozers, tractors and guns and torched several homes. They did not have police permission (for the procession). After Howrah, they went to Rishra,” she added.
These people who incited violence have no religion, the chief minister said. “What kind of religion is this? I believe they are neither Hindus nor Muslims. They are only the BJP’s goondas (goons),” she said.
West Bengal celebrates several Hindu festivals, Mamata Banerjee said, adding that hooliganism has never happened. “The BJP is maligning the name of Lord Ram by organising violence during Ram Navami. They are defaming the Hindu religion by pitting one community against another. The BJP said that if it came to power in Bihar, it would hang rioters upside down. Why are they not doing that to their goondas?” she asked.
Accusing the BJP of colluding with the Left against her Trinamool Congress, Banerjee said: “’Baam (Left)’ and ‘Ram (BJP)’ have joined hands against us. They are plotting to assassinate my character. But they don’t know me. The people belonging to all communities have stopped them (the BJP) with the slogan ‘Khela Hobe’. How can I forget ‘Didi, oooo Didi’ or ‘ebar 200 paar (this time over 200 seats)’? When they failed, they looted Nandigram. Why was there a power cut on the day of counting? We will bring justice in the days to come.”
Speaking about the episodes of post-poll violence in the state, the chief minister claimed there have been no such incidents. “There was no post-poll violence in the state. They are traitors. They can’t capture Bengal but they want to capture Delhi. Sometimes bad elements are born in a family. These bad elements are responsible for riots,” Banerjee said in an apparent reference to her once-close aide Suvendu Adhikari, but did not name him.