Kolkata, 06 March (H.S.) : Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh on Friday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of staging a sit-in protest in the heart of the city to protect infiltrators belonging to the minority community.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme, the senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party alleged that the ruling All India Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal would soon be voted out of power. He also warned what he described as “partisan state government officials and lumpens sheltered by the TMC” to mend their ways or face consequences.

Singh claimed that Banerjee was primarily focused on protecting infiltrators belonging to the Muslim community, whom he alleged formed a significant part of her vote bank. He said it was “shameful” that the Chief Minister was holding a sit-in protest at the Esplanade to safeguard such elements, adding that they had helped her win previous elections but would not do so again.

The Union Minister further alleged that a substantial portion of the nearly ₹15 lakh crore in central funds granted to the state had been misappropriated by TMC functionaries. According to him, several leaders had moved from riding bicycles to owning luxury four-wheelers and constructing palatial homes over the past fifteen years.

He also claimed that industrial growth in the state had declined sharply from around 25 per cent earlier to nearly three per cent now. Singh added that children born in the state over the past fifteen years were burdened with liabilities amounting to about ₹80,000 crore.

Accusing both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Trinamool Congress of encouraging “goondaism” in the state, Singh said strong-arm tactics and intimidation would no longer succeed as the BJP was prepared to counter them.

Later in the day, Singh flagged off the BJP’s ‘Parivartan Yatra’ from Narayangarh in Paschim Medinipur district as part of the party’s mass outreach campaign ahead of the Assembly elections.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh