As soon as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee mentioned her 'Gotra' in Nandigram, Union Minister Giriraj Singh raked up the issue of "Rohingyas' Gotra".
Speaking to , Singh said, "Mamata Banerjee is scared of losing the polls. That is why she is using the gotra card. She is conducting attacks on Suvendu Adhikari and other BJP candidates. Sometimes she abuses the Election Commission. "
The union minister also took Twitter to slam Mamata for playing 'Gotra' card.
"Mamata Didi, now it is to be found out whether the gotra of Rohingyas and the infiltrators is Shandilya or not. Those who settled the Rohingyas for votes, those who stopped Durga puja and Kali puja and humiliated the Hindus, now descended on the gotra in fear of defeat. 'Shandilya Gotra' is dedicated to Sanatan and the nation, not for the vote," reads the tweet of Singh translated from Hindi.
Earlier on Tuesday, while addressing a public rally in Nandigram, Mamata said, "During my second campaign, I visited a temple where the priest asked me my 'gotra'. I told him 'Maa Maati Manush'. This reminds me of my visit to Tripura's Tripureshwari temple where the priest had asked me my 'gotra' and I had told him too 'Maa Mati Manush', actually I am Shandilya."
'Shandilya' is one of the eight highest Brahmin Gotras. According to Bhagvat Purana, Shandilya was a prominent rishi who was the progenitor of the 'Shandilya' gotra.
Nandigram will witness the most high-profile contest in the second phase of the state assembly elections to be held on April 1 with the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee taking on her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December last year.
Mamata is contesting from Nandigram this time and not contesting from her home turf Bhabpur seat, making this election more interesting.
The Left Front has fielded Minakshi Mukherjee, the state president of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) from Nandigram against Mamata and Adhikari.
In phase-II, 30 Assembly constituencies from the districts of Bankura, South 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur will go to polls to decide the fate of 171 candidates including 19 women.
The first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded with an estimated 79.79 per cent voter turnout on Saturday.
The polling for 31 seats in the third phase of the 294-member state assembly will be held on April 6. The elections for 44 seats will be held in the fourth phase on April 10. Further, in the fifth phase on April 17, 45 seats will go to the polls. The sixth phase is scheduled for April 22 when elections for 43 seats will be done. In the seventh phase on April 26, polling will be held for 36 seats. Finally, the eighth phase is scheduled for April 29 when 35 seats will go for polling.
The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
( With inputs from ANI )
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