BJP leader Adhikari trashes Mamata's charge, says Bengal man's suicide not linked to NRC
Kolkata (PTI): A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of spreading fear over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) following the alleged suicide of a man near Kolkata, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday claimed the death was unrelated to the NRC issue.
Adhikari claimed that the deceased, Pradeep Kar (57), whose body was found hanging at his residence in Panihati in North 24 Parganas district on Tuesday, had his name in the 2002 electoral rolls and had voted in that year's assembly elections in Panihati constituency.
Adhikari, a senior BJP leader and staunch critic of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, told reporters that the ruling party in the state was peddling lies over the tragic death of a man for political dividends.
"Kar's death is no way related to the issues of NRC and SIR (Special Intensive Revision). The unfortunate incident must be due to some other reasons," he told reporters here.
"The TMC has built false narratives in an insensitive manner. The people of Bengal will give a befitting reply to such propaganda," the Nandigram MLA said.
After inaugurating a Jagaddhatri Puja pandal in Birati area near Kolkata, Adhikari said 12 other states and Union territories where SIR will be implemented have not raised any objections and "only Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek are peeved over the move aimed at ensuring free and fair vote and weed out infiltrators and illegal voters."
"Even the RJD is not raising any more protests after initial hullabaloo over SIR as they also understand the importance and benefits of rolls revision," he said.
"However, the Bengal duo is against SIR as they are afraid of losing the Bangladeshi infiltrator vote bank, based on which they had won past elections," he alleged.
Asked to comment on Abhishek Banerjee's threat to organise a mass protest against the CEC in Delhi, Adhikari said, "If they dare to go to Delhi, let them leave the slippers here and we will make them run along the banks of river Yamuna," he said.
Adhikari called upon 'Hindus' to shun their "apprehension about local toughs intimidating them, come out of their comfort zones to enjoy a heavy midnight lunch at homes on the polling day and come out in large numbers to cast votes. If 85 per cent Hindus cast their votes, rest assured, this undemocratic, jihadi-appeasing Mamata regime will be dislodged from power in 2026."
He also accused the TMC-run government of turning a blind eye to reports of desecration of idols in several parts of Bengal in recent times and the alleged inaction of police.
Condemning what she described as the BJP's "politics of fear and division," the CM alleged on Tuesday that the party's campaign around the NRC has created panic among people.
"It shakes me to the very core to imagine how, for years, BJP has tormented innocent citizens with the threat of NRC, spreading lies, stoking panic and weaponising insecurity for votes," Banerjee said in a social media post.
She charged the BJP with turning "constitutional democracy into a theatre of fear", and said the "tragic death" was the result of "venomous propaganda".
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Yogish Goudar murder case: Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni, 16 others sentenced to life imprisonment
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Bengaluru: A special court for people’s representatives has sentenced Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni and 16 others to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of BJP leader Yogish Goudar.
The verdict was delivered by judge Santhosh Gajanana Bhat. The court had earlier, on Wednesday, held all 17 accused guilty of murdering Goudar, while reserving the quantum of punishment.
On Friday, the court pronounced the sentence, awarding life imprisonment to all the convicted persons in the case.
Yogish Goudar, a BJP member from the Hebballi Zilla Panchayat constituency in Dharwad district, was murdered in 2016.
