BJP MLAs on Monday staged a protest in the West Bengal Assembly over Trinamool Congress legislator Sabitri Mitra's alleged derogatory comments against Gujaratis that they made no contribution to country's freedom movement and demanded her apology. The party condemned the TMC MLA from Manikchak in Malda district who at a public meeting on Sunday claimed that Gujaratis supplied weapons to the British before Independence. She had said, “Gujarat played no role (in the country's freedom movement). They supplied arms to the British to keep the country under foreign rule. But today, Gujaratis are becoming prime ministers and shouting ‘Bharat mata ki jai’. Do they have the right to shout ‘Bharat mata ki jai’? Only those who fought in the freedom movement have the right to shout this slogan. We have the right to raise the slogan Bharat mata ki jai. The BJP has no such right.” She also described Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah as Duryodhan and Dushashan from the Mahabharata. Sharing the video of her speech, Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari criticised the TMC MLA. “Sabitri Mitra spews venom & says that Gujaratis supplied arms to the British with the intent to keep India subjugated as a British Colony and the ‘Famed Land’ of Bapu & Patel had no contribution in the Indian Freedom Movement,” he said in a tweet. Targeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the issue, Adhikari added, “Following her supreme leader's footsteps she engaged in name-calling & described Hon’ble PM & Hon’ble HM as Duryodhan & Dushasan from a political rally today at Malda. But her hatred for Gujaratis is incomprehensible. She labelled the people of Gujarat as traitors. Unfortunate.” Meanwhile, Mitra claimed that her statements were being misinterpreted by the Opposition. “Only parts of my speech are being shown. I have said that women are not being given respect in the country. I cannot tolerate if someone disrespects our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” said Mitra who refused to speak on her statements on Gujaratis. Recently, state minister Akhil Giri had made derogatory remarks against President Droupadi Murmu at a gathering in Nandigram which resulted in a war of words between the BJP and the TMC.
