KOLKATA: In yet another attack on West Bengal Chief Minister, BJP`s national vice-president and party MP Dilip Ghosh on Monday said that despite being born in a slum, Mamata Banerjee’s thoughts are still ''very negative and poor.'' The Bengal BJP leader also compared the Trinamool Congress supremo with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who despite being the son of a tea seller has a generous heart and always remains grounded.


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“Mamata Banerjee was born in a slum and became CM but her thoughts are still very negative & poor. But look at PM Modi. He became the PM despite starting his life by being the son of a tea seller and his heart is as generous and broad as the sky and he is grounded,” Ghosh said while addressing a gathering of Bengal BJP workers. 


 



 


The Bengal BJP leader alleged that the West Bengal police is arresting party workers and forcibly pulling them down from the trains to prevent them from participating in the September 13 ‘Nabanna Cholo’ protest march. “If might is right is the law of the ruler, then we will follow the democratic process to establish the rule of law,” Ghosh said in a tweet.


 



 


Taking a dig at Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, a TMC MP, Ghosh had earlier targeted them for allegedly claiming themselves to be poor but using iPhones “worth lakhs of rupees”.


"..TMC will not be able to fool common people of Paschim Banga anymore! Mamata Banerjee and her nephew claims themselves to be poor. But they are the ones who use iPhone worth lakhs and lives in a house worth Rs. 12 crores," Ghosh tweeted.


 



 


Ghosh made these remarks during a public meeting in Bengal’s Khatra in Bankura on Saturday and also posted a video of his speech on Twitter.


'Nabanna Abhijan'



The BJP has hired seven trains to bring its party members and supporters from different parts of West Bengal to join 'Nabanna Abhijan' (march to the secretariat) on September 13, a rally to be taken out in protest against the alleged corrupt practices of the TMC government.


Senior BJP leader and former state president of the party, Rahul Sinha, said that all trains have either left from or would be leaving for their destinations in a few hours time. He also claimed that the TMC-run administration was "trying to create hurdles in the way" of supporters willing to come to the city to join the rally.


"Our supporters were prevented from boarding a special train from Alipurduar to Sealdah on Monday evening and even lathi-charged by state police. The train, however, left later with our activists and supporters," Sinha said.


Meanwhile, the TMC mouthpiece 'Jago Bangla' has claimed Rs 2.84 crore has been spent on hiring the trains, questioning the source of such funds. Joy Prakash Majumdar, a spokesperson of the ruling party, said, "The BJP has taken crores of rupees from businessmen who escaped the country, and is probably using that money for its programmes. To my knowledge, the BJP spent around Rs 2,000 crore in 2021 assembly polls."


Wondering if the headcount for the rally would cross 10,000, Majumdar said, "Every train has 11 bogies and 700-800 seats. That means seven trains can bring 5,000-5,500 people. The BJP is spending Rs 3,000-4,000 for everyone boarding the special train." This money could have been used to help people financially in the post-COVID situation, he stated. 


The TMC leader also said that chances are there "the saffron camp may try to foment trouble during the rally to be in the news", knowing well that the turnout won't be high.


(With Agency Inputs)