Day after, TMC hits back at Amit Shah

Also Read: BJP wave will drown TMC in Gangasagar, says Amit Shah

“The support of people is with TMC and Mamata Banerjee. The BJP cannot digest this fact… Can you block the sunlight by covering your eyes? No. Defeating Mamata Banerjee is not easy,” he said taking a dig at Shah’s claim that his party is going to form the next government in Bengal.Abhishek added: “Mamata Banerjee started her struggle wearing hawai chappals three decades ago. She still follows the same lifestyle… She has a long history of struggle. She did not become a mass leader overnight… They (BJP) do not know Bengali language, Bengali culture… Let there be a competition based on development. Let them talk based on facts and figures.”

Taking a dig at state BJP president Rahul Sinha’s comments that the convoy of Amit Shah — who enjoys Z-plus security cover — was not given a pilot car by the state government, Abishek said: “Shah came to Burdwan and left unharmed and that too without a pilot car… it shows that Bengal was safe.”

Referring to Sinha’s comments that “TMC was a party of hermaphrodites”, he said: “We don’t want to retaliate with bitter words. All we can say is that he himself has proved that Trinamool is popular among all sections of the society.”

Trying to put an end to speculations about leaders such as Rachpal Singh and Rabiranjan Chattopadhyay defecting to the BJP, Abhishek said: “A section of the media has been naming them as probable defectors. Here they are with me. They are true TMC workers and will never leave the party.” He also claimed that the TMC rally has seen a better turnout than Shah’s rally.

He claimed that the Centre, with the help of CBI and a section of the media, was trying out all strategies to malign the Bengal government and its ministers. “I have told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that if the CBI was so effective, why couldn’t it probe the properties of senior BJP leaders like Thawar Chand Gehlot, Piyush Goyal, Sadananda Gowda and Ravi Shankar Prasad as their property has increased manifolds within four months after the Lok Sabha polls in April 2014.”

Alleging that BJP would communally divide the country, Abhishek said: “There is no place for people who want to divide the state on the basis of religion. If at all there is a contest, it will be between Rahul Sinha and the 10 crore people of Bengal. They

might conduct a press conference every day. We will connect with the people of West Bengal and work towards its development.”

The rally saw the presence of TMC heavyweights like Subrata Banerjee, Subrata Bakshi, Firhad Hakim, Partha Chatterjee, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Malay Ghatak, Nirmal Majhi, Rachpal Singh and Rabiranjan Chattopadhyay.

Addressing the rally, Subrata Mukherjee compared Mamata and with Mahatma Gandhi. “I have not seen Gandhi but have read about his honesty and truthfulness. And here is a chief minister, who still wears cotton sarees and carries an inexpensive bag,” he said.

“The CBI summoning a senior leader or a minister and making him sit for hours at its office is a bigger punishment than arresting him, as it taints his image,” Mukherjee said while referring to the Saradha scam probe.

“Amit Shah had left early yesterday because BJP couldn’t fill the ground with supporters… The way BJP trying to make new members, it was worse than how a hawker goes after a customer to sell his wares,” Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee said.

On the ‘Bhaag Mamata Bhaag’ phrase coined by BJP national secretary Siddarth Nath Singh, he said: “They are here to bhaag (divide) Bengal.. People here may be less educated but they know who is trying to divide them.”

Slap effect: Abhishek’s security beefed up

Abhishek surrounded by security personnel at the rally. (Source: Express Photo by Subham Dutta)

Taking a lesson from his last rally, where he was slapped on stage, security of Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee was tightened in Burdwan on Wednesday.

While six securitymen stood guard at the stairs to the stage, three accompanied him on the stage. One was seen standing right behind the MP.

The district party leadership said it had met well in advance to discuss security issues.

“Not only Abhishek, but a number of state leaders and ministers were to attend the rally and we could not let them down. We had met the police and wanted to ensure that no unauthorised person got on the stage,” said Swapan Debnath, Trinamool Burdwan district president.

“The entry and exit gates of the stage was prepared in such a fashion that the VIPs were a good distance away from supporters,” he added.

A D-shaped barricade of bamboos was set up in front of the stage to keep the crowd and mediapersons at bay. Abhishek was flanked by four guards, including a woman officer, while getting on and off the stage. “The woman guard was there to prevent any overenthusiastic woman who wanted to click a selfie with Abhishek,” said a police officer at the venue.

After the programme, Abhishek shook hands with some members of the crowd under the watchful eyes of the guards and with a barricade in between.

District police authorities said they had taken all precautions to ensure no untoward incident takes place. “There were several policemen in civil clothes. I was personally there to monitor the situation. My officers ensured that no one, including mediapersons, came in the D-zone,” said Burdwan SP S M H Meerza. He added that he had procured a list of people who would be seated on the stage and ensured that only those were allowed on the dais.

On January 4, Debashish Acharya (25) had got on to the stage when Abhishek was addressing a rally at Chandipur in East Midnapore on the pretext of taking his photograph on his cellphone. He went on to slap Abhishek.