Trinamul Congress chairperson and state chief minister Mamata Banerjee charged on Tuesday that the BJP was deliberately engineering communal violence in Bengal.

Addressing a Trinamul Congress workers’ convention near Digha this afternoon, she said: “In the name of Rama Navani procession they have terrorised people. They are not Hindus but basically criminals. They bring outsiders to create trouble in Howrah. This has never happened in Bengal. The BJP fails to understand that the people of the state do not support violence. They had seen violence during 34 years of CPI-M’s misrule.”

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She said the BJP leaders who were working to deprive West Bengal from getting its dues have no right to stay in the state and urged women to chase away those who perpetrate violence in their areas with their cooking utensils.

Miss Banerjee alleged the local BJP leaders were jealous of the development that had taken place in West Bengal in the past one decade.

Without naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said: “I have not forgotten when I was referred to as Didi O Didi before 2021 Assembly election. They tried to stop me from taking part in election campaign by causing injury to my left foot. I am not afraid of any one. I decided to campaign on a wheel chair. They said they would get 200 seats and had to remain satisfied with 77 seats. After getting thrashing in the election, it has become the sole aim of BJP to defame West Bengal and financially deprive the state.”

Taking a dig at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, without naming him, she said: “The BJP said if the party comes to power in Bihar, it would hang rioters upside down. Then why are they not doing that to their goondas who are fomenting trouble in Bengal? Charity begins at home.” Without naming the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, she said: “They took every advantage from us. In 2019 Lok Sabha election, the appointment of teachers became a major issue. I did not anything about this as I had relied on him. Midnapore has given birth to many revolutionaries but it had also produced some traitors. The traitors are talking big. They won the Nandigram seat by using nasty tricks. There was loadshedding for three hours and the result was manipulated. We have moved the court and will not spare anyone.”