New Delhi, Sep 14, 2022, By Special Correspondent

New Delhi, Sep 14: Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched a scathing attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a press conference at the party headquarters here.

His charge that West Bengal has become a "lawless" and "bankrupt" state under the Mamata Banerjee-led government came a day after BJP workers and police clashed when police prevented them from marching towards the secretariat in the state capital during their protests. 

 

Prasad hit out at Banerjee for inflicting "police torture" on its members to suppress their voice.

 

Prasad said, "The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government surpassed all limits of brutality, repression, and police torture while denying the legitimate right of the Opposition."

 

"Under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal has become lawless and bankrupt. She has been talking about saving democracy outside the boundaries of Bengal but failed to maintain democracy in her own state," Prasad said.

 

Former Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed Banerjee, saying she speaks of saving democracy outside the state while crossing all limits to curb people's democratic and civil rights inside Bengal.

 

Speaking about "corruption" in West Bengal, the BJP said, "Your government has crossed the height of corruption. Around 60-70 crore (of rupees) have been seized from your ministers' residence. The court is not giving them relief as there are strong evidences against them."

 

Suggesting that intra-party rivalry within the TMC may be behind the use of force against BJP members, he said the chief minister's conduct has been "contrary" to her political evolution, noting her rise from the grassroots and long struggle against the earlier Left rule.

 

Is the fight for succession going on in the TMC, he asked, hinting about the reported differences between the chief minister and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee without naming the second most powerful leader in the regional party.

 

She has now left the Left behind in inflicting atrocities and brutalities on the BJP, he claimed, asserting that the TMC cannot stop his party's march in the state.

 

"Under Mamata Banerjee West Bengal has become a lawless and bankrupt state," Prasad said.

 

"You speak about Maa Maati Manush - good governance - but your state has been a land of atrocities. Yesterday, police lathi charged top leaders of the Opposition. Several were detained. Our MPs were arrested, and our state party president Dilip Ghosh was also detained," he claimed.

 

The BJP had launched a protest march against the ruling Trinamool Congress' alleged corrupt practises.

 

Parts of Kolkata and Howrah district turned into a battlefield on Tuesday as BJP supporters clashed with the police while trying to get past barricades erected to prevent them from marching towards the West Bengal secretariat 'Nabanna'.

 

While the BJP alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government does not want to give space to opposition parties, the TMC described the saffron camp workers as "hooligans".

 

At the press conference, Prasad also took swipe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the spree of firing in Begusarai on Tuesday and the comment of the state agriculture minister that his department was full of "thieves" and he was their "sardaar" (leader).

 

"What has happened to you Nitish Kumar ji in the company of your new friends," the Patna Sahib MP posed.

 

Kumar had recently broken the alliance of his party Janata Dal (United) with the BJP and joined hands the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

 

Prasad alleged that the RJD's foundation is based on "mafia, corrupt people and corruption" and wondered how long the state government will last.

 

Banerjee has recently announced that her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren along with other Opposition leaders will come together to fight the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.