Mamata Banerjee, a symbol of honesty: Bengal minister

Asserting that Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is a “MM symbol of honesty”, West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim Sunday said she cannot be blamed for any wrongdoing by an individual.

Banerjee has the lowest assets among all chief ministers in the country and is an example of how one can live a simple life despite being at the helm of a state, Hakim said at a rally here. The public meeting was held in the same area in Birbhum district two days after the BJP organised Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s rally. ''Mamata Banerjee is the symbol of honesty…If any person has done something wrong, then it is his fault and not of Mamata Banerjee,'' he said.

A recent analysis of poll affidavits by the Association for Democratic Reforms found that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has the lowest total assets of approximately Rs 15 lakh. The opposition parties in the state have been sharpening their attacks against Banerjee over allegations of corruption against a section of TMC leaders.

Pooh-poohing the BJP's accusations of corruption against the TMC government in West Bengal, he said ''Our leader Mamata Banerjee lives in a semi-pucca house and does not even claim any perks from the state exchequer.'' Partha Chatterjee, who was a senior minister in the TMC government, was arrested in 2022 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and thereafter by the CBI in connection with the teaching jobs for money scam, apart from a TMC MLA and other former senior officials.

The CBI on Saturday questioned another TMC MLA and conducted search operations at multiple places, including the premises of the lawmaker and other party leaders, in the state in connection with its probe into the school job scam case. Strongly denying accusations against the TMC over cattle smuggling and illegal immigration, Hakim claimed that it is the BSF, which is under the Union Home Ministry, that mans the international borders with Bangladesh.

Without naming Birbhum district president of Trinamool Congress Anubrata Mondal, Hakim said, ''Our leader here is behind bars in connection with the cattle smuggling case, while cows come from Yogi Adityanath-ruled Uttar Pradesh and go to Bangladesh illegally through the international borders which are under the supervision of the BSF.'' Terming Shah's call to the people of West Bengal to give 35 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats to the BJP in the 2024 general elections, Hakim claimed that such an achievement is “MM impossible” for the saffron party in the state.

''Shah had given the call for winning 200 seats in the 2021 assembly elections too, but the BJP could not come anywhere near it. The same thing will happen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,'' Hakim said.

Stating that it is necessary to reply to what Amit Shah said in his speech at Suri on Friday, he said that the Union Home Minister's assertion that there would not be any illegal immigrants in Bengal if TMC is not in power in the state is “MM wrong”. ''No one enters from Bangladesh illegally anymore, those who had once come from the neighbouring country as refugees are Indian citizens and not illegal immigrants. ''But still if anyone enters from Bangladesh illegally, then it is your (Shah) BSF under the Home Ministry which is responsible for such inefficiency. ''It is you who will be responsible for such illegal entry as you are the Union Home Minister,'' Hakim said.

Citing the example of Assam, where infiltration and cow smuggling stopped after the BJP came to power in 2016, Shah had said on Friday that the same would be replicated in West Bengal if the saffron camp comes to power.

Claiming that around 1,300 Ram Navami processions were held in West Bengal, he asked ''Why did unrest occur at some rallies in Howrah and Hooghly while there were so many peaceful processions across the state?''. The state minister sought to blame the BJP for the incidents. Prohibitory orders were imposed at Rishra and Shibpur in Hooghly and Howrah districts respectively, where clashes broke out between two groups during Ram Navami processions.

He claimed that the Mamata Banerjee government acted promptly and controlled the situation in these places.

Hakim also questioned the reason for unrest during Ram Navami processions in some other parts of the country, including Bihar Sharif and Sasaram in Bihar. Shah had blamed the clashes on the ''appeasement politics'' of the TMC government and said once the BJP wins more than 35 seats, ''no one would dare attack Ram Navami rallies in the state.'' Questioning the deaths of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf by assailants on Saturday night, Hakim alleged that extra-judicial killings are taking place in Uttar Pradesh.

''In West Bengal, criminals are brought to justice through trial in courts and not through encounters. What is happening in BJP-ruled UP is a violation of human rights,'' he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)