Kolkata, April 17 Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday remarked that his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee has "folded and kept the democracy in her pocket". His barb was aimed at the law and order situation in the poll-bound state, following reports of attacks on BJP workers and judicial officers allegedly held hostage in Malda district.
The Maharashtra Chief Minister was here to campaign for next week's Assembly polls in West Bengal.
During an interaction with IANS, Fadnavis said, "Mamata Banerjee knows that she is losing and therefore she is trying to find a cause. She is scared of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) because it is due to SIR that fake, duplicate votes and those of illegal infiltrators, will be deleted. 'Didi' (Banerjee) has been winning (so far) with the help of these votes."
Taking a jibe at Mamata Banerjee, the Maharashtra CM said, "But in West Bengal, democracy is caged within Didi's bag. She has folded and kept it in her pocket."
Fadnavis said, "It is the biggest loss for a democracy when judicial officers are held hostage in a state and discussions happen to break the bones of the Election Commission, where CRPF personnel are attacked and the state whose Chief Minister snatches files from the office of a central agency."
He stressed that elections in West Bengal are not just about the victory of a political party.
"Here, the elections are being conducted to stop illegal infiltration and the anti-national activities caused because of that. For all of this, change is required in Bengal," he said.
"Mamata Banerjee has chosen a shortcut. She wants to get elected by altering the demography, not on the basis of development," the Maharashtra CM added.
He flagged that the security of the country is in danger due to illegal infiltration from Bangladesh in West Bengal.
"She (Mamata Banerjee) has prepared a gateway to being infiltrators from Bangladesh into West Bengal. Their documents are then made in the state. Some stay here and others go to various parts of the country, thereby hampering the nation's security."
About alleged corporate jihad in the Nasik branch of the Tata Consultancy Services, Fadnavis said, "I am happy that TCS' Chief and its senior most leadership are cooperating in the investigation. They are also coming up with a policy so that such incidents are not repeated."
Moreover, he emphasised that the investigation is being conducted to know whether "this case is one of a kind or is it a part of a major gameplan?"
"Investigation is also underway to understand whether this is 'corporate jihad' or not," he underlined.
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