TMC hits back, asks Shah to pay attention to BJP-led central govt

Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee today advised Amit Shah to pay more attention to his party's government at the Centre, after the BJP chief slammed the TMC dispensation in West Bengal for "unleashing violence" on political rivals.

Chatterjee said Shah should be "more worried" about the BJP-led government at the Centre and in states where assembly polls are due, instead of "looking at" West Bengal.

"There is a saying that empty vessels sound much. Amit Shah's speech in Purulia is also a reflection of that saying," the TMC leader said.

Shah had lashed out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a rally in Purulia for "unleashing violence" on her political rivals. He said the sacrifice of BJP workers would not go waste and the party would win 22 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the next general election.

He said the people of West Bengal must dethrone the TMC government if they want to stop illegal immigration from Bangladesh.

"We have seen how the ground is slipping out of BJP's hand in Gujarat and other states," Chatterjee said, referring to the Gujarat election, which the BJP won with a reduced mandate after a bitter poll campaigning against the Congress.

He said the people of the country will defeat the "anti-people" BJP government in the next Lok Sabha election.

Chatterjee said BJP's politics of dividing people along religious lines will not work in West Bengal and the people of the state "will defeat the sinister designs of BJP."