Bankura (West Bengal) [India], April 11 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is running a syndicate in the state to serve the interests of her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee.
Addressing an election rally here, Amit Shah promised women's safety and that potatoes grown in the state will be sold to Odisha and Jharkhand.
Accusing CM Mamata of neglecting Bankura, Shah vowed to "settle the scores".
The Union Minister said, "We will completely dismantle Mamata's syndicate across the entirety of Bengal. This syndicate has become an instrument of governance for Mamata and her nephew, one that serves only to suck the very lifeblood out of the people of Bengal. Once you oust Mamata and establish a BJP government, we will take it upon ourselves to set this syndicate straight, even if it means hanging them upside down to do so. For 15 years, Bankura has been neglected; the time has come to settle the score."
He accused the Chief Minister of not selling the potato to neighbouring states of Jharkhand and Odisha out of arrogance.
"As for the local potato farmers: their produce ought to fetch a price of over Rs 20 per kilogram, yet they receive barely even Rs 2. This is solely due to Mamata Didi's arrogance, her obstinate refusal to allow our potatoes to be sent to neighbouring states like Jharkhand and Odisha. The moment a BJP Chief Minister takes office, on that very day, Bengal's potatoes will be sent out to Odisha, Jharkhand, and across the entire nation," he said.
Shah slammed Mamata Banerjee's "girls should not be allowed to go outside at night" after the 2025 Durgapur gangrape case.
He said, "Mamata Didi says that women should not step out of their homes after 7 pm. Mamata Didi, come and see BJP rule in Assam, a girl wearing 10 tolas of jewellery rides a scooter to a wedding at 1 AM at night, and nothing happens to her."
The BJP has fielded sitting MLA Niladri Shekhar Dana from the Bankura seat against TMC's Anup Mondal. In the 2021 elections, Niladri Dana won by a thin margin of 0.7 per cent of votes against TMC candidate Sayantika Banerjee.
The polling for West Bengal Assembly elections will take place in two phases on April 23 and 29, with the results set for May 4. The upcoming elections follow the 2021 battle, where the TMC secured a landslide 213 seats. However, the BJP's growth from a minor player to 77 seats in the last cycle has set the stage for the current high-stakes confrontation.
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