West Bengal Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee | Photo credit: ANI
Key points
- The Trinamool Congress and the BJP have clashed with each other ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections
- The much anticipated state elections are likely to be held in April-May next year
Calcutta: West Bengal’s chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, launched a searing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, accusing it of carrying out “policies of religious hatred” in the country. He asked the central government why Christman is not declared a “national holiday.”
While speaking at a Christmas carnival in Allen Park in the Park Street area of Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee said, “Last year and before I also said: Why won’t the birthday of Jesus Christ be declared a national holiday? Tell me who was there before Why has the BJP government withdrawn that? Everyone has feelings. What harm have Christians done? This festival is celebrated all over the world. “
“This time there are some problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have to wear masks and maintain social distancing,” he added.
The West Bengal CM went on to question secularism in the country and accused the BJP-led Center of pursuing policies of “religious hatred”.
“Is there secularism in India? I regret to say that a typical policy of religious hatred is taking place. I want to condemn this today,” he said.
Christmas is an official holiday, according to the National Portal of India.
‘Trash of lies’: Mamata criticizes Amit Shah for Bengal’s development
Earlier in the day, Mamata Banerjee accused the Union Interior Minister Amit Shah of speaking falsely about the development of the state, describing the figures given by him on the position of the state on various parameters as “garbage of lies.”
At a press conference in Bolpur on Sunday, Shah accused the Trinamool congressional government in the state of failing to comply, claiming that West Bengal lags behind most of the country’s states on various parameters, except for corruption and extortion. .
“I want to tell Amit-ji that you are the minister of the interior and it is not in your best interest to spend lies provided by your party workers without cross-checking,” Banerjee said.
Maintaining that he will give a detailed response to Shah’s accusations on Tuesday, the prime minister said: “Today I will only talk about two things, he said that we are zero in the industry, we are number one in MSMEs.”
“He also said that we have not made roads in the villages, we are number one at that point as well and this information has been shared by the Government of India,” he added.
