Left govt’s hooliganism is being repeated by BJP: Mamata Banerjee

Hooghly: Ahead of the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the hooliganism perpetrated by the Left government was being repeated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

While speaking at a public rally in Goghat, she said: “I once went to attend a programme in Chamkaitala and we were not allowed to set up a stage for the meeting. We were not allowed to have mics and repeated gunfire was heard in the background. Communist Party of India’s (Marxist) hooliganism is now being replicated by BJP.”

Banerjee also said there was a conspiracy to murder Trinamool Congress member Ajit Kumar Panja.

“I had held a meeting at Gopinathpur earlier. After I left for Midnapore, I came to know that CPM had captured the entire area, from Arambag to Goghat and burned down several homes,” she added.

She also credited herself for creating several development projects in West Bengal.

“Today, Railways has reached Goghat, this was done by me. BJP and CPI(M) did not create this, but now they are inaugurating these projects. They have no shame!” she remarked.

In phase two of the elections, a total of 30 Assembly constituencies from the districts of South 24 Parganas, Bankura, Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur will go to polls.

There are 171 candidates in the fray in phase-II of West Bengal polls, out of which 152 candidates are men while only 19 are women.

Among these candidates, two are undoubtedly the most prominent figures, that is, Mamata Banerjee and her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the BJP in December last year.

Nandigram is all set to witness the most high-profile contest in the second phase where Banerjee and Adhikari are taking on each other. Adhikari had earlier pledged that he will quit politics if he does not defeat Mamata Banerjee by 50,000 votes in Nandigram.