Kolkata:
Slamming her Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath for his recent “goli vs boli” remark, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said India was facing a “dangerous situation” as persons holding constitutional positions were busy spreading hate.
She also claimed that the BJP indulged in communal politics, as and when elections were around.
“How can he (the CM of UP) say ‘Boli se nahi manega toh goli chala do’? I have never heard such remarks before. A Union minister (Anurag Thakur) has also said something similar. They are just indulging in hatred politics.
“The country is going through a dangerous situation,” the chief minister told reporters at the state secretariat.
Adityanath courted controversy during a rally in Delhi, saying those who attack ‘Kanwariyas’ (devotees of Lord Shiva) will have to face police bullets.
Delhi goes to polls on February 8.
“‘Boli se nahi maanega to goli se maan hi jaayega’ (if they do not listen to reason, they will surely understand the language of the bullet),” he had stated, days after Thakur had said ‘desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maaro’ (shoot the traitors).
“Voters in Delhi are about to exercise their franchise, and with no agenda left, they (BJP) are playing the communal card. I am not sure why they would do this… They could have used the development card or for that matter the economic or humanity card,” Banerjee added.
She said whenever there is an election around, the BJP talks of nationalism and dub others as “anti-nationals or terrorists”.
“Neither they want to talk about farmers, nor the students; their only motto is to divide the country,” the Trinamool Congress supremo alleged.
The CM also said the saffron party is scared of the anti-CAA protests in Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh and other parts of the national capital.
“In Hindi there is a saying, ‘Jo dar te hai woh marte hai, aur jo larte hai woh jeetey hai’ (those who are scared die, and those who fight survive). It’s their right to hold peaceful demonstrations,” she said.
Calling the BJP as a “party of opportunists”, Banerjee said they encourage “vandalism, goondaism, hooliganism”.
“I am ashamed by the manner in which the country is being governed. Why has our motherland suddenly turned into a killing field?” she said.
