Mamata Banerjee slammed the BJP administration in Uttar Pradesh during a rally in Varanasi on Thursday in favour of Samajwadi Party head Akhilesh Yadav. On her journey to Varanasi on Wednesday, the West Bengal chief minister claimed she had to deal with the “destructive mentality” of BJP members, which is a symptom of discontent as the party is expected to lose the state election.
The meeting included Rashtriya Lok Dal President Jayant Singh Chaudhary, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohiya) Chief Shivpal Yadav, and Akhilesh Yadav. On Thursday, Banerjee is slated to pay a visit to the Kashi Vishwanath shrine.
“I want to thank all the people of Varanasi who have given me a chance to come here and speak,” Banerjee said at a joint gathering of the Samajwadi Party and its alliances in Varanasi. Yesterday, I visited Varanasi’s Holy Ghats and felt really delighted. While driving from the airport to the Ghats, I came across some BJP workers with a destructive mentality who stopped my car, pushed it, and attacked it. This demonstrates that they are losing badly in the UP. They advised me to return because I am not a “darpok” (coward), but rather a “ladaku” (fighter). When they were abusing me the other day, I got out of my car and stood in front of them to see what they could do. They were all, however, ‘darpok.’ I’d like to thank them for making it plain that the BJP was losing terribly; otherwise, they would not have done so. Khela Hoga, I’ll return a thousand times.”
She further accused the BJP of demeaning women, asking why she is unable to travel to Varanasi, Mathura, Azamgarh, Lakhimpur, or Allahabad. “Come to West Bengal’s Ganga Sagar and ask your people how well they are treated… In the guise of the ‘anti-Romeo squad,’ the Uttar Pradesh government humiliated young boys and girls. Mamata questioned, “Where were these BJP folks when people died while walking to their homes during Covid?”
Banerjee directed her rage towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of “not doing anything” for the stranded Indian students in war-torn Ukraine. “If you (Modi) had such cordial contacts with Putin Ji (Russian President), you must have been aware of the attack three months in advance.” Why did the government do nothing at the time? Now the administration is telling Indians that they must return on their own. “Many people are trapped in bunkers,” she claimed.
She further claimed that during elections, the BJP engages in temple rhetoric and the Hindu-Muslim dispute. “I have no objection to the slogan ‘Jai Siya Ram,’ but why don’t you (BJP) adopt Sita Mata’s name?” ‘Jai Shri Ram,’ you say instead. “It’s ‘Jai Siya Ram,'” Banerjee exclaimed from the stage as she read Durga Stuti.
The BJP government was also criticised by the Trinamool Congress supremo over demonetization. “These individuals did Notebandi in the name of ‘achhe din,’ and now they’re selling farming, trains, airports, banks, and even life insurance in the name of ‘achhe din,'” says the narrator. Did they provide the Rs 15 lakh they promised in your bank accounts? Unemployment is rising, and young people are fleeing the state in search of work…”
The West Bengal Chief Minister urged people to vote for the SP-led alliance and vowed to attend Akhilesh Yadav’s inauguration as the state’s next chief minister.