West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee faced protests from Hindu Yuva Vahini during her visit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi on Wednesday to campaign for the Samajwadi Party candidate.
The protest drew bitter criticism from TMC, the party which Banerjee founded and heads, in Kolkata.
Members of the right-wing outfit, which was founded by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about two decades ago, waved black flags and raised slogans against Banerjee when she was travelling to Dashashwamedh Ghat to attend the ‘Ganga Aarti’ on Wednesday evening.
Activists of the Vahini gathered in front of her convoy at the Chetganj crossing and protested against her even as the police tried to stop them. Banerjee got down from her vehicle and stood on the road for some time.
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As the convoy moved on, BJP supporters showed her black flags and raised slogans of “Mamata Banerjee wapas jao (go back)” and “Jai Shri Ram” in Gadaulia area.
The police personnel deployed in the area tried to snatch the black flags and chase away the protesters.
The TMC said the agitation against Banerjee by BJP during her visit to Varanasi showed its “fascist and anti-woman mindset”.
Senior party leader and minister Bratya Basu told reporters in Kolkata that the agitation against Banerjee was not surprising in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and the Lok Sabha constituency of Narendra Modi as it reflected the anti-liberal mindset of BJP.
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“We are not surprised that the BJP activists shouted ‘go back’ slogans at Mamata Banerjee. We are not surprised this happened in a city like Varanasi even though she is entitled to VVIP security. It shows the latent anti-woman mindset of BJP and their fascist culture. People of the country will give a befitting reply to the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha election,” he said.
Countering his assertions, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said “I am not sure if TMC wants to hear ‘Jai Bangla’ slogan in Varanasi. People chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ on seeing her convoy. What is the harm in chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram'”.
He wondered whether TMC has forgotten how it treated visiting BJP leaders during the West Bengal assembly poll campaign.
“Has the TMC forgotten how they treated J P Nadda? How they treated me? TMC has no right to take about decency,” he added.
Banerjee, who is a bitter critic of Modi, is scheduled to campaign for the Samajwadi Party and its allies in Varanasi on Thursday ahead of the seventh and final phase of the Uttar Pradesh election on March 7.
TMC has dealt a bitter blow to BJP in the just-concluded civic poll in West Bengal in which the saffron party was completely routed. The ruling TMC won 102 of the total 108 municipalities, an election to which was held on Sunday amidst allegations of widespread rigging.
