BJP old-timers shedding tears as party fielded TMC turncoats: Mamata

Branding TMC turncoats as "traitors", party supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday said it was good riddance they have moved out of her camp, but the "switch over has left BJP old-timers sulking" as the saffron camp has chosen to field the defectors over its loyalists.

Accusing the BJP of practising "politics of riot, loot and murder", Banerjee, during a poll rally here in Purba Medinipur, urged everyone "to be on guard against outsiders appearing in their localities".

The TMC, which has made 'Bengali pride' its core poll plank, calls the BJP a 'party of outsiders', as its top leaders hail from outside the state.

In an obvious reference to former state ministers Suvendu Adhikari and Rajib Banerjee who have deserted her camp, the TMC supremo said, "Gaddars, mir jafars (traitors) have now become candidates of the BJP, much to the dismay of the saffron party's old-timers."

"The old-timers in the BJP are now shedding tears sitting at home," she claimed.

Noting she had been subjected to grievous injuries in the past, Banerjee said, "Earlier, I was hit on my head, back and other parts of my body. My feet were spared. Now they are aiming for my leg to ensure I do not take part in campaigning. But I am a street fighter. They cannot put me down."

The CM, who sustained injuries on her leg during electioneering in Nandigram on March 10, has claimed that she was a victim of a conspiracy hatched by her rivals.