KOLKATA — West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee visited the house of a slain party worker in Kolkata on Thursday and lambasted the BJP, claiming that it was lighting “naked pyres of terror” in the state.
Banerjee accused the BJP of killing the Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker, Nirmal Kundu, a charge denied by the saffron party.
“The BJP is lighting naked pyres of terror at places where we have won (in the Lok Sabha election). They are also trying to demean the Bengali culture,” she said.
For the latest news and more, follow HuffPost India on Twitter, Facebook, and subscribe to our newsletter.
The saffron party was yet to win the Assembly election in the state and it got only 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, that too, by resorting to malpractices, the TMC chief said.
Banerjee has been alleging tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs) during the general election.
“Why the party (BJP) is carrying out atrocities like killing people? What kind of politics is this?,” she asked, while talking to reporters outside Kundu’s residence.
Bengal is not a place for violence and terror, the chief minister said, adding, “It is a place for peace and tranquility.”
Kundu was shot dead by motorcycle-borne assailants on Tuesday evening at Nimta, on the northern outskirts of the city. Two persons have been arrested in this connection.
West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said his party was not involved in the killing of Kundu.
“It was the result of infighting in the TMC,” he claimed.
Banerjee said the case was handed over to the CID.
The chief minister said victory rallies will not be allowed by any party, including the TMC, adding that her party had been taking out peace marches since the Lok Sabha poll results were declared on May 23.
Incidents of violence are being reported from various parts of West Bengal since the poll results were announced, with the TMC and the BJP blaming each other for the clashes.
The saffron party won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal in the recently-concluded general election, only four less than the TMC’s 22.
Buoyed by the stupendous performance, BJP leaders are now claiming that their next target is to overthrow the TMC from power in the 2021 Bengal polls.