Mamata Banerjee on Friday flagged the Narendra Modi government’s alleged interference in the affairs of Bengal at a joint news conference of national Opposition parties in Patna with the latest trigger for her outburst being the celebration of the state’s “foundation day” by the governor.
“The autocratic BJP government, the dictatorship, the atrocious atrocities underway, what have they not done? They overruled the duly elected government there (in Bengal) and turned it into an alternative government,” the Bengal chief minister said during her turn to address the joint news conference.
“None of us is aware of this so-called foundation day of our state, they celebrated a foundation day. They doanything they like,” she added.
Mamata was referring to governor C.V. Ananda Bose’s celebration on June 20 ofthe “foundation day of West Bengal” despite vehement opposition from her. The chief minister had told him in aletter on Monday, the day before the so-called occasion, that the state hadn’t been formed on any particular date. Bose said he had celebrated the day based on an advisory from the Union government on May 11.
Mamata said on Friday that the saffron regime at the Centre was misusing the chair of governors to “play politics”.
“There is never any consultation. Nobody is allowed to speak up. If anybody does, they send the CBI, the ED to hound them,” she said.
“They have a stranglehold over the media and a battery of lawyers waiting outside courts, busy filing cases against (national) Opposition leaders,” Mamata said. “Things that simply should not be happening.”
She went on to accuse the saffron regime of using such ploys to distract the masses from the real issues plaguing the nation like unemployment, the “destruction” of the economy, the atrocities against the downtrodden, such as Dalits, and crimes against women.
“The central government has halted funds for the states, they aren’t releasing money for 100-day work, for housing, for roads,” the Trinamul Congress chairperson said.
Mamata went on to assert that theirs was a fight to save India.
“Let our blood flow, if the need arises, but we will protect our people. If the BJP comes to power once again, we will no longer have elections in the future,” she said.
“We are all together, and we will stand united, fight united, and our next meeting will be in Shimla,” added the chief minister.
The celebration of theso-called foundation day has become the latest in a seriesof contentious issues in Bengal.
Mamata had called up Bose even on June 20, grudgingly expressing her disappointment over his decision to go ahead with the event even after her strong disapproval.
On June 19, in a letter to Bose, Mamata had expressed her “shock” at the “unilateral” decision taken by the Raj Bhawan to commemorate the day. She had claimed in the letter that during her conversation with the governor on the phone, the latter had admitted that not keeping the state in the loop about the decision was unwarranted.
The letter said “the state was not founded on any particular day, least of all on any 20th of June. Contrarily, the State was formed through the infamous Radcliffe Award”.
However, the Raj Bhavan went ahead with its plans anyway. At the programme, Bose spoke on “zero tolerance” for violence and emphasised the right of the common people to vote freely.