In a blistering attack, former external affairs minister and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said she is surprised to see that political killings are taking place in West Bengal under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
"A woman who herself has been a victim of political violence is allowing all these things to happen. I do not know why Mamata ji is allowing such things? I am surprised to see that this person will adopt the same path just to save her power. I never thought about this," she said at an event titled 'People's Tribunal on Political Violence in Bengal' at the Constitution Club of India here.
Swaraj recalled an incident where she had gone to meet Banerjee at a hospital where she was recovering from a head injury. She quoted a heartwrenching incident where an 18-year-old party worker was found hanging from a tree.
"It was heartwrenching to hear that BJP workers are being killed (there). There was an 18-year-old boy who was hanged from a tree. On his t-shirt, it was written that the punishment for joining BJP is death," she lamented.
The former union minister said it was disappointing to see that hangings were being billed as suicides and the police are filing general diary entries instead of registering FIRs in connection with the political killings.
Continuing her tirade against Banerjee, Swaraj said she had hoped that the TMC supremo would run the temple of democracy in a democratic way, but expressed her disappointment over the present scenario in the state.
"The victims of these families are in despair and seeking justice. I request everyone to help them get justice at the earliest. They could not get justice there and so they have come here," she added.
Swaraj was the chief guest at the event.
( With inputs from ANI )