BJP chief Nadda compares Bengal rural poll violence to turmoil of partition

In a scathing attack on West Bengal's TMC government, BJP president JP Nadda on Saturday compared the violence during rural polls to the turmoil of partition.

He also claimed that TMC supremo and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee portrays herself as a champion of democracy, while "undermining" it.

Mocking the TMC over arrest of its leaders in corruption cases by central agencies, Nadda said the next cabinet meeting of the TMC government will be soon held in jail.

"The violence and killings we witnessed during the panchayat polls are unprecedented. Is this a reflection of democracy? Is this how elections are being held under the TMC government? We have witnessed post-poll violence after the 2021 assembly polls. But the violence we witnessed during the rural polls resembled the bloody days of partition here," he said.

While addressing the party's winning candidates in panchayat elections and the alleged victims of poll violence at an auditorium here, Nadda asserted that Jungle Raj is going on in the state under the TMC regime.

"People are not allowed to speak. There is no democracy in Bengal. Complete anarchy is going on. But Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee talks about democracy in the country and is acting as if she is the champion of democracy," he said.

The BJP president, while referring to the three fact-finding teams sent by the party to the state, said, "The reports have been submitted to the union home minister."

"Violence is going on in West Bengal, thousands of BJP workers have been rendered homeless, and Mamata didi is asking for evidence. This is the situation of the state," he said.

While asserting that BJP would democratically defeat the TMC in the days to come, he said despite its alleged terror tactics, the BJP had come up with a good performance in the rural polls.

"The TMC has unleashed so much terror, but still, they couldn't stop our candidates from winning. The BJP workers are fighting hard to oust the anarchic TMC regime. We will win more than 35 Lok Sabha seats from the state in parliamentary elections next year," he said.

The ruling Trinamool Congress scripted an emphatic victory in West Bengal's violence-scarred three-tier rural polls. The BJP witnessed a sharp decline in its vote share, whereas the opposition Left-Congress alliance registered a growth in its vote percentage.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had claimed that 29 people, mostly from her TMC, died in poll-related violence since the election date was announced on June 8.

Police sources, however, have put the number of fatalities at 38 but agree that at least 60 per cent of those who lost their lives were affiliated with the TMC.

"The entire party is neck-deep in corruption. So many senior party leaders like Partha Chatterjee and Anubrata Mandal have been put behind bars. Mamata Banerjee asks for evidence. The day is not far away when the cabinet meeting will be held in jail," Nadda said.

Nadda's remark drew sharp reactions from the TMC, which dubbed his utterances as an attempt to divert attention from BJP's failures in Manipur.

"It is the BJP which has unleashed violence in the state during the rural polls. BJP leaders are making these allegations to malign the state and divert attention from its failures in Manipur, which has been burning for the last three months," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

The TMC leader also said that the opposition bloc INDIA has unnerved the BJP, and the utterances reflect the fear set in the saffron camp.

The BJP president is on a three-day visit to West Bengal from Friday and will hold a series of meetings with office bearers of the party's state unit to take stock of the organization ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year.

He also participated in the BJP's Panchayati Raj Parishad meeting in West Bengal.

Earlier this year, union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah had set a target of winning more than 35 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal. The BJP won 18 out of the 42 parliamentary constituencies in the state in 2019.

Notably, former union minister Babul Supriyo, party MP Arjun Singh and six legislators, including national vice-president Mukul Roy, have switched to TMC since the 2021 assembly polls.

The Trinamool Congress came to power for the third consecutive term in the state in 2021 by winning 215 of the 292 assembly seats to which polling was held, while the BJP bagged 77.