West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday, 29 August, hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the release of convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, saying that the Trinamool Congress would organise a dharna to demand action against the accused.
"The BJP talks about 'Beti Bachao' and 'Beti Padhao' and its government released those involved in Bilkis Bano case. Is this justice? We will organise 48-hour long dharna here in Kolkata to press for action against the accused," the chief minister was quoted as saying.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said that releasing the convicts of the Bilkis Bano case under remission was not "nari samman."
The TMC supremo further claimed that ahead of Independence Day, the states had received notices from the Union Home Ministry asking them to release prisoners under remission, as part of a "conspiracy" to free the Bilkis Bano case convicts.
'BJP Misusing Central Probe Agencies To Dislodge Governments'
The chief minister said that the central agencies and "ill-gotten money of the BJP" were being used to dislodge elected state governments run by parties that are opposed to the saffron camp.
Addressing a rally of her party's student wing in Kolkata, Banerjee said a malicious campaign has been unleashed against senior TMC leaders, including her, Firhad Hakim, and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
"The BJP is branding everybody as thieves. They are campaigning in a way as if all of us in the TMC are thieves and only the BJP and its leaders are holy. Had I not been in politics, I would have torn out their tongues."Mamata Banerjee
Anticipating Hakim's arrest as he was recently summoned by the central agencies, the TMC supremo said, "If he is arrested, you can rest assured it will be a fake case, just to harass him. They (BJP) are talking about the money with TMC leaders. From where is the BJP getting thousand of crores to dislodge elected state governments in line of the Maharashtra model. The BJP is parking money abroad through hawala. The BJP has to be defeated in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," she said.
Referring to the SSC recruitment scam, the CM said, "The case (arrest of Partha Chatterjee in SSC scam) is sub-judice. Nothing proven yet. Media trial is going on. BJP is scaring media, judiciary, political parties, using Pegasus to take away people's freedom, using ED & CBI to loot money from people's houses."
(With inputs from PTI.)
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