Mamata skipped Ram Temple to not offend her ‘infiltrator’ vote bank: Amit Shah

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee skipped the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in January this year as she didn’t want to offend her ‘infiltrator’ vote bank, Union home minister Amit Shah alleged on Tuesday.

Addressing an election rally at Memari in East Burdwan, Shah said, “For years, people of our country and Ram devotees wanted a Ram temple to be built in Ayodhya. But the Congress, the TMC (Trinamool Congress) and the Communists didn’t want it. When Ram Mandir was constructed, Mamata Banerjee and her nephew (TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee) were invited to the consecration ceremony. She didn’t attend. Do you know why? She was afraid that it would offend her infiltrator vote bank.”

“Mamata didi, unleash as much terror as you can. The farewell of you and your nephew is imminent. You have to leave,” he added while saying that this election people need to decide whether they want dynasty politics or Ram Rajya.

The TMC supremo had said that the BJP was indulging in a gimmick through the inauguration of the Ram Temple ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP has been accusing the TMC government of appeasement politics and supporting infiltrators from across the Indo-Bangla border

“Mamata is opposing the CAA. I want to ask her today, what is her problem if Hindu, Jain and Buddhist refugees from Bangladesh get citizenship? Her problem is that the infiltrator vote-bank will get angry. But the (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi government will give citizenship to each and every refugee. And Mamata won’t be able to stop it,” Shah said.

“Mamata won’t act against infiltrators because they are her vote bank. Infiltration has stopped in Assam after the BJP formed the government there. The day is not far when the BJP will form a government in West Bengal,” he added.

Shah also attacked the TMC supremo over the Sandeshkhali incident in North 24 Parganas, in which village women were allegedly sexually assaulted by TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides and lands of villagers were forcefully grabbed. Violent protests had erupted in February this year at Sandeshkhali, which falls under Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency.

On Tuesday too, a scuffle broke out between TMC and BJP at Basirhat where the BJP’s candidate Rekha Patra was allegedly heckled. “The common people are with the BJP. The TMC is scared and is resorting to violence. The TMC panchayat head of Kharidanga is behind this violence,” Patra told reporters.

Shah said, “You won’t be able to see Sandeshkhali-like incident anywhere in the world. For her vote bank politics in a bid to shield an infiltrator, a woman chief minister allowed TMC leaders to exploit hundreds of village women. Shouldn’t the perpetrators be sent to jail? Mamata is asking why they were sent to jail. The BJP will send all those people to jail who tortured women in Sandeshkhali.”

Shah also promised to punish the “TMC goons” who “ate the central funds” meant for the state’s development.

“Modi had sent around ₹10 lakh crore to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the development of West Bengal. TMC goons ate away the funds,” Shah said and urged people to help the BJP win 30 seats in West Bengal to punish the culprits.

Other senior leaders of the BJP including Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanat also addressed election rally in Bengal while Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami attended the nomination rally of Locket Chatterjee, BJP candidate from Hooghly. Rajasthan chief minister Bhagan Lal Sharma is also in the city to attend some programs of the BJP.

The TMC hit back at Shah and the BJP, saying that those who can’t provide roti, kapda and makan engage in politics over Ram temple.

“Ram temple was the BJP’s agenda. It triggered controversies too. But what has that to do with the political issues, development and interests of farmers and workers. The BJP government has failed to safeguard the interests of each and every section, be it farmers, workers, youths or the unemployed. Hence it is churning up such issues,” Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson, told reporters.

“Shah shouldn’t give a lecture about dynasty politics. He is pelting stones while sitting in a glass room. The BJP inducted Suvendhu Adhikari and his entire family. It was ‘buy 1 and get 3 free’. Multiple such examples can be cited,” he said.

“What can Bengal expect from the BJP. The party didn’t give the portfolio of a Cabinet minister to a single MP from West Bengal. They have only deprived Bengal. The BJP won’t reach the double digit here,” he added.

The ruling party also rejected the claims of Rekha Patra.

“The shameless goons of @BJP4India’s MP Candidate Rekha Patra outraged the modesty of several women during one of her campaigns today. The locals chased the goons but they fled like cowards. Bengal is resisting these molesters but shall @NCWIndia (National Commission for Women) grow a spine and join in?” the party wrote on its X handle.