Thakur slams INDIA over Manipur visit: ‘Will same team go to Bengal or Rajasthan?’

The Union minister said, “Does the Congress oppose the way the Mamata Banerjee-led state government (in Bengal) is holding on to power through killings? Will the INDIA alliance visit Rajasthan where crimes against women are taking place and submit reports on West Bengal and Rajasthan?”

A delegation of 21 MPs from the opposition alliance INDIA reached Imphal on Saturday to assess the situation in violence-hit Manipur. The team will visit several relief camps to meet victims of the clashes that broke in the northeastern state on May 3.

Meanwhile, Thakur alleged that the violence during the recently-concluded West Bengal panchayat election was orchestrated by TMC supporters under the instructions of Chief Minister and party chairperson Mamata Banerjee.

He claimed that over 57 people have been killed in political violence during the rural polls. “The BJP has doubled its number of seats in the rural polls as compared to the previous elections. The result shows that Banerjee’s days in power are numbered. In the recently concluded panchayat polls, over 50 people have been killed. The entire law and order situation in West Bengal is a shambles. Mamata didi, your party leaders, as per your instructions, resorted to hooliganism,” said the BJP leader. He alleged that the TMC has been giving shelter to hooligans and criminals for political gains.

Countering the Union Minister’s claims, State Industries Minister and senior TMC leader Shashi Panja questioned the timing of Thakur’s visit to West Bengal. “Instead of paying a visit to Manipur, he is in West Bengal and speaking on violence during rural polls. The PM and other Union ministers are also silent on Manipur. It is the BJP that creates and propagates violence. Their party leaders had said the democratically elected government in West Bengal will be overthrown and President’s Rule will be imposed,”’ she said.