More people watch 'JCB ki khudai' than crowd at Amit Shah's rally: TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee
Dantan/Chandrakona (WB), Mar 15: Launching a stinging attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the cancellation of his Jhargram rally due to "technical glitches", TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on Monday said more people watch excavation work by an earthmover or sip tea at a shop than those attending the senior BJP leader's public meeting.
Slamming the BJP, he said when the saffron party could not turn states ruled by it like UP, Gujarat or Assam golden, how can it deliver the promise of making West Bengal 'Sonar Bangla' (golden Bengal).
The parliamentarian from Diamond Harbour constituency, also Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew, wondered whether the BJP was planning to make 'Sonar Bangla' by extracting gold from cow milk, alluding to an earlier statement by state BJP Dilip Ghosh that had triggered outrage and ridicule.
"Union Home Minister Amit Shah's scheduled rally at Jhargram was cancelled due to some technical glitch, it seems.
Anyways, the photos of the rally that I have received show very few people. More people watch excavation work done by an earthmover or sip tea at a village shop than those present at the senior BJP leader's public meeting.
"On the other hand, the massive participation of people in the TMC's rallies indicate that the party will return to power in the state on May 2 by bagging over 250 seats," he said, while addressing a rally at Chandrakona in Paschim Medinipur district.
Calling for "driving out outsiders" coming to the state to seek votes, he said the "leader of the outsiders" is in Paschim Medinipur, where Shah is canvassing for party candidates.
"When there is no Sonar UP, Sonar Assam or Sonar Gujarat, how can the BJP promise to deliver Sonar Bangla? It appears Dilip Ghosh will build Sonar Bangla by extracting gold from cow milk," he said in another rally in Dantan in the district.
Banerjee said the BJP is divorced from the ethos of West Bengal and hence chant 'Jai Shri Ram' instead of 'Jai Siyaram' which is closer to the heart of the people of the state.
Alleging that the BJP is using the central agencies to harass the TMC, he asserted, "But, we are not afraid."
He said that the BJP does not respect women, which is apparent in their way of criticising Mamata Banerjee, who is the only female chief minister in the country.
Banerjee alleged that while BJP leaders are peddling lies about landmark projects of the state government like Swasthya Sathi, Dilip Ghosh's family members are queuing to avail the scheme.
"If the BJP comes to power in the state, it will stop these schemes," he said.
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9 killed, 15 injured as bus catches fire in Haryana
Gurugram(PTI): At least nine people were burnt alive and 15 injured when a moving bus caught fire near Tauru in Haryana's Nuh district in the early hours of Saturday, police said.
The incident occurred around 2 am on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway. The bus was carrying around 60 people, all residents of Punjab's Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana, who were returning from pilgrim towns of Mathura and Vrindavan. All of them are relatives, police said.
"Nine people -- six women and three men -- were killed in the accident. Fifteen people were injured and have been hospitalised. All the injured are stable," said Inspector Jitendra Kumar, Station House Officer, Sadar Tauru.
"The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. A probe is underway," he said.
A local resident said that after noticing the fire, some people chased the bus on a motorcycle and asked the driver to stop. The locals also informed the police and fire department.
