Shah’s remarks on Bengal rural polls distasteful, insensitive: TMC

KOLKATA: West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress has dubbed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks on violence in the state’s panchayat polls as “distasteful and insensitive”, and wondered about the role of his ministry in restoring peace in strife-torn Manipur.

TMC national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien said instead of showing compassion to grieving families of those who died in the violence, the BJP leader is gloating over vote percentage.

Shah on Friday said even “bloodcurdling violence” could not stop the BJP from putting up a stellar performance in the panchayat elections in West Bengal.

“Mr Home Minister@AmitShah, what a distasteful, insensitive statement from you. How much lower can you go? As Home Minister, you have the responsibility to protect people and keep the nation at peace. Instead of showing compassion to grieving families, you are gloating over the politics of (fake) vote percentages. Shame,” O’Brien tweeted on Friday.

“And if that is not bad enough, even those percentages are inaccurate. Your party’s vote percentage has dropped,” he asserted.

The people of West Bengal have rejected the BJP again, the TMC leader stated.

“I ask, what are you doing about Manipur? What are you doing about J&K? Decency and humaneness are two words that do not exist in your dictionary,” he tweeted.

The TMC leader’s remarks come in the backdrop of Shah’s tweet: “Even bloodcurdling violence in West Bengal could not stop the BJP from putting up a stellar performance in the panchayat election. The BJP nearly doubled its seat tally from the previous election, indicating a significant rise in the trust placed by the people.” The Trinamool Congress, in a statement, claimed that the saffron camp, after failing to fight it in a fair way, had resorted to dirty tricks and “unleashed unspeakable violence” on the ruling party workers.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had claimed that 19 people, mostly from her TMC, died in poll-related violence since the election date was announced on June 8.

Police sources, however, have put the number of fatalities at 38, but agree that at least 60 per cent of those who lost their lives were affiliated with the TMC.

The West Bengal BJP unit, however, dubbed the remarks by the TMC against Shah as a “reflection of frustration over the truth being out.” “Amit Shah Ji has said the truth. The entire country has witnessed the violence and anarchy unleashed by the TMC during the polls, which is continuing even after the elections are over,” BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said. PTI PNT NN RBT