Central agencies threatening TMC leaders, asking them to join BJP: Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday alleged that central agencies are threatening TMC leaders and elected representatives with prison term in chit fund scam cases, if they don't join the BJP.
Addressing the Martyrs' Day rally here, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief accused the saffron party of luring TMC MLAs with money and other perks.
The chief minister, speaking at her first major political rally after the Lok Sabha polls, also said the party will launch a statewide protest on July 26, demanding return of black money "siphoned off" by the BJP.
"Central agencies are threatening our leaders and elected representatives over chit fund scams, asking them to get in touch with the BJP leaders or face prison," Banerjee said.
"The BJP is offering Rs 2 crore and a petrol pump to our MLAs to switch over... Just like in Karnataka, the BJP is indulging in horse trading everywhere. It is trying to replicate this model here, too," she alleged.
Hitting out at the central government for allegedly trying to destroy the federal structure of the country, she claimed the BJP is functioning in a whimsical manner and its government would not last for "more than two years".
"They (the BJP) are bringing bills and passing it without any prior information or consultation... Credit for the smooth conduct of Parliament goes to opposition parties, not those in power," the TMC chief added.
The Martyrs' Day rally is organised by the party every year on July 21 in the memory of 13 Youth Congress activists killed in police firing in 1993 during the Left Front regime in West Bengal. Banerjee was a leader of the Youth Congress at that time.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
