Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Monday challenged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to arrest him for saying ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and then urged the gathering to raise the chant.
“Mamata didi, I am chanting Jai Shri Ram here and leaving for Kolkata. Arrest me if you have the guts,” he said at an election rally in Jaynagar.
Shah also said that the Trinamool Congress chief is preventing his party from holding rallies in the state because she is afraid that her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, will lose the elections.
“I was to visit three places today, but Mamata’s-ji’s nephew is contesting from one of the seats so she is afraid her nephew will lose, and that’s why she cancelled the permission for our rally,” Shah said.
Earlier today, the BJP was forced to cancel a scheduled rally by its president in Jadavpur after local authorities denied permission. The authorities also refused to let Shah’s helicopter land in the constituency.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar said that Mamata Banerjee is running a “dictatorship” in Bengal.
“Bengal is under Mamata Banerjee’s dictatorship. We had applied for today’s rally 4-5 days ago. They earlier said that we will be given permission. But at 8.30 pm yesterday, they refused it,” he told media persons on Monday.
Terming it a “murder of democracy”, Javadekar said that the Election Commission should take cognisance of the development.
“No reason was cited for the refusal to grant permission for the rally. Even the helicopter was not allowed to land. This is murder of democracy. The Election Commission should take cognisance of the matter,” he added.
Jadavpur is a major seat in Kolkata district, where polling is scheduled to be held in the last phase on 19 May.
Banerjee’s nephew, Abhishek, is, however, contesting from Diamond Harbour seat – which is located in South 24 Parganas district. Abhishek, the sitting MP from the seat, is up against Nilanjan Roy of BJP.
Shah will now be addressing a rally in Barasat, close to Kolkata.
West Bengal, one of the only three states where polling is being held in all seven phases, will witness the last round on 19 May. Voting will be held on the remaining nine of the 42 LS seats in the state.