Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attacked the Centre Wednesday of using brute force to ‘scuttle’ the voices of dissent in the Kashmir valley. She also dared the BJP-led ministry to arrest her for raising voice against the government.
Mamata Banerjee, while referring to RBI’s decision to hand over Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the government, said that important institutions of the country are being headed by retired bureaucrats, who are acting as ‘yes men’ of the BJP-led government.
“What is going on in Kashmir? The government is using brute force to scuttle all voices of dissent in the valley,” Mamata Banerjee said while addressing a student’s rally here.
“If there was an all-party meeting regarding Jammu and Kashmir, we would have presented our views. We don’t know where Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah are presently,” Banerjee added.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) had opposed the Jammu anfd Kashmir Reorganisation Bill in Parliament and staged a walkout during the voting early this month.
A bitter critic of the saffron party, Mamata Banerjee asserted that she would continue to raise her voice against the government. She asserted that she ‘will not bow down before the BJP’.
While referring to Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s decision to give Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the Centre, the West Bengal Chief Minister said the reserve money of the central bank has also been exhausted due to the ruling BJP government. “There is no reserve money in RBI now. All money has been used by the centre,” Banerjee told the gathering.
Banerjee said that the country is heading towards presidential form of government, and there will be no place for democracy.
“They are propagating one government, one leader, one party, one emergency. I presume we’re heading towards a presidential form of election. Is this what our freedom fighters fought for,” asked the TMC supremo.
“All other parties are being fragmented. When the Karnataka government fell, no one said anything. They (BJP) say they will capture Bengal too, I will see how that happens,” warned the firebrand leader.
“The central government is either threatening opposition leaders or buying them out with money. It is after Bengal now, as we are opposing its policies and divisive politics,” added Banerjee.
Accusing the central agencies of trying to intimidate TMC MLAs and leaders, Banerjee said they are calling party leaders every other day with the sole intention to threaten and intimidate them. “We have not done any wrong. If they want they put me behind bars, I will go to jail. I will take that as fight for freedom struggle. I won’t bow down before the BJP,” asserted Banerjee.
In the last few years, the saffron party has made deep inroads in West Bengal and emerged as the main challenger to the ruling TMC by pushing the Congress and the Left Front to distant third and fourth positions respectively. Its leaders are now asserting that their next target is to unseat Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the 2021 Assembly elections.
PTI