West Benga Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee addresses the TMC’s Dharmatala Rally on the party’s annual Martyrs Day rally, at Esplanade in Kolkata on July 21, 2023.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on July 21 that the Trinamool Congress leadership’s claim that it was working to restrain party workers was a bundle of lies.
Reacting to remarks by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Martyrs Day rally, where she stressed that Trinamool was a platform to serve the people, the CPI(M) leadership said that Ms. Banerjee was misleading her party workers with her lies.
CPI(M) State Secretary Mohammad Salim said that what was prevailing in the State was far from the rule of law.
“What has she done about the perpetrators of violence, assault, rape, and sexual harassment in Coochbehar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, and other places? Mamata is a pathological liar. She is making fools out of TMC supporters. The TMC had the RSS’s blessings in this election.”
MP alleges jobs scam
Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, Rajya Sabha MP from the CPI(M) accused the Trinamool Congress of extorting money in exchange for jobs. “Mamata Banerjee cannot create employment in honest ways,” he said. “She is misleading people with lies. We must stand against such corruption.” Mr. Bhattacharya has been one of the lawyers raising allegations of irregularities in recruitment in State-run schools.
Samik Bhattacharya, Rajya Sabha MP, and BJP spokesperson said the rally was an attempt to divert attention from the deteriorating law and order situation.
“They exploited the emotions of martyrs’ families at Sunday’s meeting. She wants to divert attention from the lawlessness in her state and is using these events as a distraction. Who has she arrested? She is celebrating people on stage who have murder charges against them.”
Suspect victory
He also indicated that Abhishek Banerjee, who won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by a margin of 7 lakh, used “unfair means.” He accused Abhishek Banerjee of raising fake votes. “Has he done any work worth 7 lakh votes in his constituency? I doubt if he has even spent 7 lakhs on work there.”
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar refuted allegations made by TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee at the rally on Sunday.
Mr. Banerjee compared official reactions to similar scams at the State level and at the Centre. “If Partha Chatterjee (former West Bengal Education Minister) can be raided at home and arrested by central agencies in the SSC-TET scandal, why shouldn’t Dharmendra Pradhan be arrested for the NEET scam? Why this political discrimination and hypocrisy?”
The BJP Lok Sabha MP from Balurghat said, “There is no proof against our party in the NEET scam. There is only one FIR. Most of the scam was the paper leak, we are acting against that.”