Ready to slay Ravana politically: Mamata

Taunting the BJP's proposed "Rath Yatra" in West Bengal as "Ravana Yatra", Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her party is ready to slay the demon king "Ravana" through the political process.

"These are all Ravana yatras. Lord Rama fought to slay Ravana. We are ready to slay Ravana through political process." she said, adding that her party honours saints of religious institutions but "not those who work like agents of them (the BJP)".

The saffron outfit is scheduled to hold three Rath Yatra rallies on December 7, 9 and 14 from north Bengal's Cooch Behar, South 24 Pargana district's Gangasagar and Birbhum district's temple town Tarapith respectively.

The rallies, to be inaugurated by BJP President Amit Shah, will cover all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state before converging in Kolkata in the second week of January next year.

Upping the ante against the BJP, Banerjee said the saffron outfit will draw nothing in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and be dethroned from the Centre.

"BJP will become zero. Our resolve is to remove them from power," she said a public rally at Keshiary in West Midnapore district.

She also said that some local leaders of her party had sabotaged in the Panchayat elections and the party had lost to the saffron outfit in some seats.

"Members of a party were elected by you in gram sabhas. But you do not know how dangerous they are. They will evict you and sell your properties." she said.

She also accused the BJP of misleading and dividing people in the name of religion.

"They are comparing Hanuman with Dalits and changing the names of historical places. They are insulting people... One day they may start comparing people or classes with rat, dog, cat... Our government constructed sky-walk at Dakhineswar temple and also developed burial grounds in the state. We do not believe in destructive politics," she said.

Banerjee urged people to keep faith in her party and not support the "divisive forces".

Referring to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, the Trinamool supremo said her party would not allow the NRC to be implemented in West Bengal.

--IANS

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