As BJP threatens Pak-style action in Bengal, Mamata takes a ‘sindoor’ jibe at PM
Mamata says she did not intend to make a personal remark against anyone but was compelled by the comparison of the people of Bengal with terrorists
A political storm has erupted in West Bengal over “Operation Sindoor” after the BJP, during a prime ministerial event on Thursday (May 29), spoke of a Pakistan-style action in the state, triggering a fierce reaction from the Trinamool Congress.
The TMC, which had been averting a confrontation with the Narendra Modi government over its military response, went on a no-holds-barred attack.
Bengal BJP chief’s remark
The trigger was BJP state president Sukanta Mazumdar’s hysterical claim at a public rally, which was also addressed by Modi, at Alipurduar.
Mazumdar drew a provocative parallel between terrorism and the political scenario in Bengal, declaring that just as Operation Sindoor targeted Pakistan, a similar action would be launched in West Bengal.
The military campaign was even the central theme of the Prime Minister’s political speech at the public rally from where he sounded the poll bugle.
Also Read: PM Modi says 'Op Sindoor' not over yet; hit Pakistan three times
‘Operation Sindoor not over’
“From this land of Bengal, let me assert on behalf of 140 crore Indians that Operation Sindoor is not yet over,” he told the cheering BJP supporters, who thronged the venue with national flags and cut-outs of Modi.
He said the terrorists were given the befitting reply for showing the audacity to wipe away the vermillion (sindoor) of “our sisters.”
Not the sort to make any concession for her opponent, TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee promptly took charge to deny the BJP any political mileage of the operation.
Also Read: Op Sindoor befitting reply to those who unleashed terror in India: PM Modi
Mamata’s ‘sindoor’ jibe
“I have nothing to say about Operation Sindoor. We have great regard for the sindoor of every woman. They take sindoor from their husband… Why don’t you (Modi) first put sindoor on your wife?” she pounced with a personal attack on the Prime Minister.
She was quick to add that she did not intend to make such a personal remark, but was compelled by the comparison of the people of Bengal with terrorists.
She was addressing the media in Kolkata on Thursday (May 29) soon after the BJP’s Alipurduar rally.
‘Ready for polls’
“Modi has come at a time for political gains when MPs of other parties, including the Opposition, are speaking as India's representative in other countries,” she said.
“What he said today has shocked us. It is very saddening to hear the PM say this when our Opposition team is representing the country in the world. They are making bold decisions to protect the country and the nation’s interests. We will always protect our country because it is our motherland. But is this the time for Narendra Modi, Prime Minister...and in his presence, his leaders are saying they will do Operation Bengal like Operation Sindoor? I challenge them. If they have the guts, you go for elections tomorrow. We are ready and Bengal is ready. Please remember timing is a factor,” she retorted.
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‘Won’t call back Abhishek’
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is part of the country’s global outreach mission, will not be called back, she maintained, asserting that her party would do everything for the nation.
The TMC chief also took a dig at the prime minister for calling off the military offensive ostensibly at the behest of US President Donald Trump.
“You (Modi) talk big here, but turned tongue-tied before America,” she alleged.
Corruption takes back seat
The tug-of-war for gaining mileage from the operation is indicative of the narrative that will dominate the state in the run-up to the assembly elections due early next year.
“The spat between the TMC and the BJP is part of their attempt to create a binary before the elections. Both are trying to polarise voters on Hindu-Muslim issues at the cost of real issues confronting the people,” said Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Apart from Operation Sindoor, the recent communal violence in Murshidabad also found prominence in the prime minister’s speech in which issues of corruption and governance were reduced to mere footnotes in the form of five questions.
The protesting teachers who lost their jobs due to a Supreme Court ruling in an alleged cash-for-job scam did not get an audience with the prime minister despite making a request.
Earlier, the parents of the RG Kar rape-murder victim were also denied a meeting when Home Minister Amit Shah visited the state.
The indifference raised questions about the seriousness of the state’s principal opposition party in making the graft issues its poll narrative.
Also Read: Op Sindoor: Tharoor praises Modi; Congress leader calls him BJP's 'super spokesperson'
A self-goal by BJP?
“As the BJP is fixated with its Hindutva and ultra-nationalist agenda, anti-corruption agitations against the ruling TMC are failing to become a major election issue,” pointed out political commentator and author Amal Sarkar.
That the fixation is not going to change soon is evident from the way BJP leaders were harping on Operation Sindoor and calling the TMC government a “jihadi dispensation” at Thursday’s rally.
The TMC, with an all-out attack, proved that the BJP has just given it a loose ball in its home turf.
