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The previous time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah addressed a political rally in the city, he did the unthinkable. He came up with the slogan, “Gali Gali main shor hain, Mamata Banerjee chor hain (There is a chant in the streets saying that Mamata Banerjee is a thief),” which was a scathing attack on the personal integrity of Banerjee, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and West Bengal chief minister, who had made her political career portraying herself as a squeaky clean leader. Now, Shah has taken it a step ahead.
“Saradha’s money has been used in Barddhaman terror plot and the Trinamool leaders are hand in gloves with it,” Shah told a massive rally in the heart of the city on Sunday, kickstarting the party’s campaign for the civic body elections scheduled for early next year. With a bird’s eye view on the upcoming civic polls, Shah said, “You elect a BJP mayor in Kolkata municipal polls, the reverse countdown for this government will start with that and a Trinamool-free Bengal will be achieved.”
The BJP president made full use of it by accusing Banerjee of practising vote-bank politics. “Didi is trying to shield Bangladeshi jihadis for petty interests, she should remember that she represents West Bengal and not Bangladesh,” he said.
Shah, on his part however, took a break from his speech when Namaz (prayers) started. “Let’s pause and not give Didi any excuse,” he said with a grin. West Bengal's Muslim population stands at around 27 per cent.
He also took a swipe at the TMC protest in Parliament against the black money trail. “I want to ask the TMC leadership if the Saradha money was black or white, I want to ask Mamata who bought her paintings and for how much,” he said.
The rally had grabbed headlines even before Shah landed in the city, primarily due to the TMC-led Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s refusal to give permission for it. The civic body and the fire services refused permission sighting technical deficiencies such as failing to mention the details of the dais.
The municipal corporation and the fire services were forced to grant permission after the Calcutta High Court asked the local agencies to ensure that the rally took place following guidelines. Even a section of the TMC felt that the party “scored a self-goal” by being stubborn to stop the rally and had in turn made the BJP‘s case stronger.
The BJP claimed that attendance would have been much higher but TMC cadres had stopped thousands of supporters who were on their way to the rally. The BJP had set a target of 200,000 for the rally and achieved around 130,000. In a recent television interview, Banerjee had said she did not know who Amit Shah was. The BJP president replied to it, saying, “I am Amit Shah, a simple karyakarta of the party, and I will uproot TMC from Bengal.”
