Mamata Banerjee says on Manipur violence, Bilkis Bano case, ‘BJP’s new campaign slogan is beti jalao’

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, criticised the BJP on Friday for the violence that is still occurring in Manipur, the early release of Bilkis Bano’s indicted individuals, and the bail that was granted to WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who wrestlers have accused of sexual harassment. Mamata Banerjee claimed that the BJP’s ‘Beti Bachao’ slogan has changed to ‘Beti Jalao’ while speaking at the Trinamool Congress’ ‘Martyrs Day’ rally in Kolkata.

‘You (BJP) gave the ‘Beti Bachao’ slogan. Where is your slogan now? Today, Manipur is burning, the whole country is burning..The honour of our womenfolk is being tarnished but the women will throw you out of the country in the upcoming elections,’ said the TMC chief.

Her remark was made the day after top female wrestlers in the nation filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was granted bail.

In addition, Mamata Banerjee spoke out against the early release of all 11 of the the accused who had received life sentences in the 2002 post-Godhra Bilkis Bano gang rape case. According to the remission policy of the Gujarati government, they were released in 2022.

The West Bengal CM expressed her solidarity with the people of Manipur and said, ‘We want to assure each and every Manipuri that we are standing with them, and we will stand with them at all times. The atrocities that we are witnessing in Manipur are condemnable in the strictest terms.’

The TMC leader declared that her party has no interest in assuming power and added, ‘We just want this BJP regime to go.’ Mamata Banerjee declared that she will use the opposition alliance INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) as the backdrop for her demonstrations against the government.

Abhishek Banerjee, the general secretary of the TMC, also declared that the party would hold a large protests in Delhi on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, in protest of the federal government’s decision to withhold funding from the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and other West Bengal-related programmes. Asserting that the newly formed opposition alliance would form the government in 2024, he expressed confidence in it.