Shah's Malda speech shows BJP's nervousness: TMC

Kolkata: The Trinamul Congress has lambasted BJP president Amit Shah for his attack on its supremo Mamata Banerjee and her government. Leading the salvo, Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP and the party spokesperson Derek O’Brien predicted that the BJP was heading for a “big zero” in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

He tweeted: “After listening to the BJP president’s speech in Malda, it’s obvious that they are very nervous. They know their days are numbered. They are politically-scared. Their speeches are low on facts and poor in taste.”

He claimed: “They (BJP) don’t understand the ethos of India. They don’t understand the ethos of Bengal. They are heading towards one big zero.” Mr O’Brien asked: “Some are saying they are desperate, some are saying they have gone mad... or is it a combination of both?”

Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim claimed that Mr Shah should have been a wrestler but he became a politician by chance. “There is no possibility for them to come to power here even in far future. They will lose the two Lok Sabha seats they have now here. No syndicate tax is levied here. It was collected in Gujarat when Narendra Modi was the chief minister there,” he alleged.

The TMC leader threatened to file a criminal defamation case against Mr Shah if he did not withdraw his comments suggesting that TMC leaders collected “syndicate tax.”

Mr Hakim demanded Rs 15 lakh to be deposited in every citizen’s bank account. He also dismissed Mr Shah’s allegation that bomb making have been rampant in the state. Reacting to Mr Shah’s criticism of the TMC government not giving dearness allowance to state government employees at par with the central counterparts, party secretary general Partha Chatterjee said: “Earlier, state government employees used to receive salaries on the 7-8th of every month. Now, they get it at the first day of every month. We don’t print notes that we would give out DA at par with the central government employees.”

The state Congress unit also criticised the BJP chief for his allegation that the grand old party had tried to ensure that people of this country forget the contribution of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. “The Planning Commission of India was a brainchild of Netaji and what the BJP did after coming to power in 2014 was to replace it with Niti Aayog,” state Congress president Somen Mitra said.

Earlier in the day, Mr Shah kick-started the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Lok Sabha poll campaign in the state with a rally in Malda. Mocking the grand alliance of Opposition parties, Mr Shah claimed that bringing 20-25 leaders on one stage, by TMC chief and chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata, would not serve any purpose as Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be elected again.