Launching a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Center, West Bengal Prime Minister and Head of the Trinamool Congress, Mamata Banerjee, said the country is moving towards a presidential form of government.
“The country is moving towards a presidential form of government: a nation, a leader, a political party. The super autocracy is happening in the country. There is no democracy in India. The media, NGOs, political parties and government officials cannot speak. Agency-raj is happening, ”he said on Saturday, calling the BJP the largest pandemic facing the country today.
Banerjee was heading to a rally in the heart of Kolkata to protest the alleged gang rape and murder of a Dalit girl in Uttar Pradesh. This is their first rally after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I wanted to run to Uttar Pradesh. Today my heart is in that town. Dalits and minorities face the utmost atrocities. If I raise my voice, they (BJP) accuse me of minority appeasement. Today I am a Dalit because a Dalit girl has been murdered. Tomorrow I will be a member of the scheduled tribe community if anyone from the tribe is tortured, ”the TMC Supreme said, and most of her 30-minute speech was delivered in Hindi.
The TMC is seeing an opportunity to reach backward-class voters, who supported the BJP in several of the 18 Lok Sabha seats the latter won in 2019. There are around 10 million people from the Namasudra (Dalits) community in Bengal. Before the 2019 elections, All India Matua Mahasangha, a Dalit body, had hosted a rally led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
When attacking the BJP over the Hathras incident, Banerjee said he had tried to reach the victim’s family by phone, but was unable to speak because their phones were confiscated. The prime minister hinted that he could visit Hathras any day.
“BJP may have ordered the UP police not to allow anyone to enter the town. But how long will it continue? Today, tomorrow and the day after? There will come a time when I will visit the town and you will not know it. I will surely meet the victim’s family, ”he said.
She ordered party leaders to continue block-level protest rallies every day until October 16 before the countdown to Durga Puja begins.
The TMC chief used the platform to lead an all-out attack on the BJP-led Union government, starting with farm laws, divestment plans and GST, unemployment, among others.
“In recent days there is a political drama going on in Mumbai. We want justice to be done. But the fact is that every time the elections approach, political vendetta comes into play, “she said.
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