In a scathing attack on the BJP, national general secretary and No. 2 in the party, Abhishek Banerjee on Monday said the BJP will be sent to detention camps after next year’s Assembly polls in the state and their leaders will be forced to chant “Joy Bangla” in the next 10 months.
Addressing the TMC’s mega annual Martyrs’ Day rally in Kolkata’s Dharamtala area, Abhishek said the decision to call the BJP a ‘Banglar Birodhi’ (anti-Bengal) party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was to “expose” its true character.
“Jonotar Gorjon, Bangla-Birodhider Bishorjon (the cry of people, immersion of anti-Bengal party) wasn’t just a political slogan but the exposure of BJP’s real character,” he said.
Taking forward party supremo and aunt Mamata Banerjee’s offensive against the main Opposition party in the state over the harassment of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in BJP-ruled states, the Diamond Harbour MP said: “The BJP wants to take Bengalis to detention camps for speaking their language. I want to tell them clearly — after the 2026 elections, it is you whom we will send to the detention camps after defeating you democratically.”
Without taking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name, he said BJP leaders who used to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan are now saying ‘Jai Ma Durga’, ‘Jai Ma Kali’ under pressure.
Last week, PM Modi at a BJP rally in Durgapur began his speech by invoking Goddesses Durga and Kali.
“This is the victory of the Trinamool Congress. This is the victory of the people of Bengal. The very people of Bengal whom they wanted to starve, the BJP leaders are now bowing before them and chanting Joy Maa Kali and Joy Maa Durga. This is the victory of 12 crore farmers, labourers, youth, adivasis and the victory of the culture and heritage of Bengal.”
“They (the BJP government at the Centre) used Income Tax to target Durga Puja committees and stop Durga Puja. They insulted Durga Puja, and now in this very land of Bengal, they have to stand and say Joy Maa Durga, instead of Jay Shri Ram. Mark my words, in 10 months, they will have to chant ‘Joy Bangla’,” the 37-year-old MP from Diamond Harbour said.
He also accused the BJP of insulting the Bangla language and Bengal, “which showed the way to the country during the freedom struggle and the renaissance”.
“Our poets and legends, Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, gave a face to the soul of the country through their works. The freedom fighters of Bengal like Rash Behari Bose, Bagha Jatin, and Khudiram Bose set an example with their fight not only in Bengal but across the Indian subcontinent. But the BJP insults the language they spoke,” Abhishek said to huge applause.
He also lashed out against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for allegedly targeting Bengali-speaking citizens in his state and calling them Bangladeshis. “A fortnight has passed since the Assam CM, sitting on an elected Constitutional chair, spoke against Bengalis. I want to know what disciplinary steps the BJP central leaders have taken against him. I appeal to our MPs to speak in Bengali in the current Parliament session, if required, and dare them to silence us,” he said.
“Why is the BJP so irritated if someone speaks Bengali? Is it because they couldn’t win in Bengal? Bengalis take immense pride in their mother tongue and should enhance the frequency of speaking in Bangla manifold… You (BJP) think you can bend the TMC and people of Bengal according to your will? We were born in Bengal, not in Gujarat or UP, and we will neither bow before you nor sell our spines or surrender,” he added.
Maintaining that Bengal doesn’t discriminate among citizens of this country on the grounds of religion, language, food habits or customs, the TMC leader warned that if the divisive powers wanted to play with fire, then they would be the first to get smouldered by the flames. “Do not suffer from the complacency that Trinamool will win no matter what because we have Mamata Banerjee to lead us. Of course, she will guide us. But you have to fight the battle on the ground and ensure that you do not concede an inch of land to those who have continuously hurt our self-respect,” Banerjee told party workers.
Asserting that the TMC will come to power in West Bengal for the fourth consecutive term, the TMC leader, referring to BJP’s poll symbol, the lotus, said: “Before 2021 (Assembly polls), we used the slogan of “Khela Hobe” (the game is on). This time we are saying, “Poddo Phool Upre Fela Hobe” (the lotus flower will be uprooted).”
(With PTI Inputs)
