Siliguri (West Bengal) [India], April 6 : Ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday sharply attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing them of not being able to "muster the courage" to condemn Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's reported open threat to strike Kolkata.
Addressing a public gathering here, Banerjee said, "The self-proclaimed '56-inch' Prime Minister and his Home Minister are so busy with vote prachar that they have no time to respond to direct threats of external aggression against Bengal. Pakistan's Defence Minister has openly threatened to strike Kolkata, yet neither Narendra Modi nor Amit Shah could muster the courage to condemn this grave attack on a state of the Indian Union and India's sovereignty."
"Either the lives of the people of Bengal simply don't matter to them, or they are too gutless and cowardly to take a stand. If they have even an ounce of courage, let them give free rein to the Central Forces, BSF, and the Indian Army to reclaim Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Will Narendra Modi dare? Will Amit Shah dare? Will Rajnath Singh dare?" he added.
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday reportedly said that Islamabad would retaliate by striking Kolkata in the event of any future misadventure by India.
The upcoming elections are expected to witness a high-voltage contest between the TMC and BJP, with multiple parties vying for influence in the state.
Polling for the 294-member Assembly in West Bengal will take place in two phases on April 23 and April 29, while counting of votes is scheduled for May 4.
In the last assembly election in the state, held in eight phases in 2021, the TMC recorded a landslide victory with 213 seats amid an intense contest with the BJP, which jumped to 77 seats. Congress and Left Front drew a blank in the last state polls.
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