The Trinamool Congress hit out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks in Kolkata, saying that instead of “preaching” to West Bengal he should be “apologising” for the riots in Delhi. “Rather than coming and preaching #Bengal @AmitShah you should have explained and apologised for failing to save more than 50 innocent lives in #DelhiViolence right under your nose. Mr Shah, Bengal is better off without bigotry and hatred that BJP is trying to spread,” tweeted Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee. In his speech, Shah had, in an apparent reference to Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek, said only a son of the soil and “no shahzada (prince)” would become Chief Minister when the BJP comes to power in the state. The CPI(M) and the Congress, which organised rallies in different parts of Kolkata against Shah’s rally, also attacked the BJP for the “goli maro.” slogans in Kolkata’s Esplanade area by BJP workers who were on their way to attend Shah’s rally. Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Chowdhury said, “After spreading violence in Delhi, the BJP is trying to create the same situation in Bengal. Such slogans just reflect that. We all have to come together to resist them.” Congress MLA Manoj Chakraborty said, “The BJP is trying to bring the Delhi violence to Bengal. This is their culture. By raising such slogans, they are trying to spread disturbance in Bengal. What is Trinamool Congress’s police doing? Why are BJP supporters not arrested?” The CPM said the slogan had struck a chord with followers of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse. CPM leader Mohammad Salim tweeted, “All it took was one visit of Amit Shah to spread the “Goli Maaro Saalon Ko” slogan in Kolkata. The followers of Godse might be impressed with “Goli”, but Bengal is the land of Vivekananda, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Tagore. #GoBackAmitShah.” As Shah arrived in Kolkata Sunday morning, hundreds of Left and Congress protesters, carrying black flags and anti-CAA posters, demonstrated outside the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport and raised ‘Go Back’ slogans. Later in the day, a minor scuffle broke out between police personnel and protesters in the Esplanade area when the latter tried to break the barricades and enter Shahid Minar Ground, where Shah was scheduled to hold his rally, a senior police officer said. CPI(M) Legislature Party leader Sujan Chakraborty led a rally in Santoshpur in south Kolkata, while Congress activists took out a protest march from Beckbagan to Park Circus and burnt an effigy of the Union Home Minister. “Kolkata had shouted ‘Go Back’ slogans during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city in January. We will not allow Shah to hold a rally here. He (Shah) is not welcome here. The Union home minister is equally responsible for the violence in Delhi,” Chakraborty said. On the “goli maro” slogans by BJP workers, he said, “Kolkata has never heard such a slogan that spreads hatred. We condemn it and demand immediate lawful action against the culprits.”
