Kolkata: Two days after the BJP organised Union Home Minister Amit Shah's public meeting in West Bengal's Birbhum district, the ruling Trinamool Congress will hold a rally in the same area on Sunday, party sources said. At the meeting on Friday, Shah had set a target for the BJP to win 35 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in next year's election and claimed that the Mamata Banerjee government in the state won't survive beyond 2025 if the goal is achieved.
"Senior TMC leaders Firhad Hakim and Partha Bhowmick will address a counter-rally in the Suri area in Birbhum on Sunday. They will give a point-by-point rebuttal to what Amit Shah had said. We will expose the lies and canards spread by Shah," a senior TMC leader said on Saturday.
The Trinamool Congress on Friday slammed Shah over his remarks that Banerjee's government will not survive beyond 2025 if the BJP wins 35 seats in the next Lok Sabha polls as "undemocratic". "What is most astonishing is that the home minister of the country is talking about toppling a democratically elected government of the state. His comments prove that the BJP has no regard for democracy or constitution," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh had told reporters.
Shah, who had also attacked the TMC over dynasty politics by repeatedly using the phrase "Didi aur Bhatija (Elder sister as her supporters and her nephew call Mamata Banerjee and her nephew)" during his speech, also attracted a sharp rebuttal from Bengal's ruling party. Banerjee's nephew Abhishek is TMC's national general secretary and a two-time MP.
HM @AmitShah, you spoke of my imagined ills but didn't care to address the harm @BJP4India has inflicted upon West Bengal. If my existence pains you to this extent, release the Rs 1.15 Lakh Crore rightfully due to my state and I'll withdraw myself from the political arena," TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had tweeted.
Trinamool Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have criticised the Centre repeatedly for allegedly withholding the state's MGNREGS funds. (PTI)
