Mamata claims Amit Shah is conspiring to kill her

Mamata Banerjee, sitting on a wheelchair, addresses a rally in Bankura on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of hatching a conspiracy to harass TMC leaders ahead of the assembly elections in the state and wondered whether the Election Commission is working as per his instructions.

Claiming that Shah is getting "frustrated" by "poor turnout" at his rallies, Banerjee also alleged that the BJP is plotting conspiracies to kill her as her security director Vivek Sahay was removed by the Election Commission after she sustained injuries last week in Purba Medinipur's Nandigram. Referring to the "attack" on her in Nandigram, Banerjee said no one will stop her from taking forward her battle against the BJP.

‘Shah is frustrated'
"Instead of running the country, Shah is sitting in Kolkata and hatching a conspiracy to harass TMC leaders. What do they want? Do they want to kill me? Do they think that they will win this election by killing me? They are wrong," she said. "Is Shah running the EC? What happened to their independence? My director, security (Vivek Sahay) was removed (by EC) as per his instructions," she alleged. Banerjee threatened to stage a protest outside the Election Commission if the BJP didn't stop interfering with its functioning.

Swapan Dasgupta resigns as RS member
Swapan Dasgupta, who was nominated as Rajya Sabha member in April 2016, tendered his resignation on Tuesday, after TMC MP Mohua Moitra raised objections to him being named as a BJP candidate from Bengal. "Dasgupta is nominated [RS member] & not formally BJP. If he files nomination as @BJP candidate he should be disqualified according to the Constitution's 10th Schedule," she tweeted last night. Dasgupta, whose term was to end in 2022, has urged the RS Chairman to accept his resignation with effect from Wednesday.

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