Trinamul Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee today urged people not to vote for the BJP which has propagated volumes of lies to malign Bengal just to win election.

Mr Banerjee was addressing a rally at Pursura in Hooghly to support party nominee for Arambag Lok Sabha seat Mitali Bag. Polling for the seat will take place on 20 May. Trinamul Congress has replaced the sitting MP Aparupa Podder.

Coming down heavily on the Union home minister Amit Shah for his false claim yesterday that Mamata Banerjee government does not give holiday during Durga Puja. “The state government gives 10 days of holiday during Durga Puja. If Mr Shah can prove that no holiday is given during Durga Puja I will quit politics.”

Mr Banerjee urged Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Utter Pradesh to do home work before making any statement in Bengal. “In UP, atrocities on Dalits is highest followed by Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat. In UP, there were 13,000 incidents of atrocities on Dalits as against 108 cases in Bengal in 2023,” he said adding, “Mr Yogi should remember that the National Crime Record Bureau has declared Kolkata as the safest city in the country,” he said.

He said, “BJP is a peculiar party which does not speak about development and lets loose one community against the other. The leaders of the saffron party are engaged in hate speeches just to incite one community against the other. Their leaders, including the Prime Minister are speaking volumes of lies everyday. But unfortunately, the ECI does not take action against the BJP for violating the Model Code of Conduct,” he said. It may be mentioned that Trinamul Congress termed the MCC as Modi Code of Conduct.

Mr Banerjee said in Hooghly district Lakshmir Bhandar is received by 13.30 lakh women while another 16.99 lakh girls are getting Kayanshree and 53 lakh people get free ration every year. “We have presented our report card, let the BJP come forward and present its report card,” he said.

He said no BJP leader was seen during the Covid pandemic when people were facing various problems. “Our leaders and workers had worked round the clock to serve the people irrespective of political colour,” he said.

Quoting a BJP mandal president, he alleged that BJP would spend Rs 40 crore to treat workers of 80,000 polling booths across the state with alcohol. “Visit your area, you will not find any sober, sensible person supporting the saffron party. You will find all sorts of wrong people supporting the BJP,” he remarked.

He urged people to vote for Trinamul Congress which works for all round development. “Work is our religion and while executing work we do not distinguish between caste, creed, sect or religion,” Mr Banerjee said.