Mamata skipped Ram temple event to not offend her vote bank: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not attend the Ram temple inauguration ceremony in Ayodhya, as she was afraid of offending her infiltrator vote bank.

Shah, while addressing a rally at Memari in Purba Bardhaman district, said this Lok Sabha election is about deciding whether people want "parivar raj or Ram rajya" in the country.

"Mamata Banerjee and the TMC leaders didn't attend the Ram Mandir consecration programme, as she was afraid that infiltrators, who are her party's vote bank, might get offended," he said.

Shah also alleged that the TMC wanted to "protect the Sandeshkhali culprits", but the BJP will punish them.

"This election is also about deciding whether you want the nephew (TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee) as chief minister of Bengal or Narendra Modi as prime minister of India. Mamata Banerjee and her nephew can torture BJP workers as much as they want, but TMC's defeat is imminent," the home minister said.