Bengal polls: 'New political party backed by BJP to eat into minority votes'

In an apparent reference to the Indian Secular Front West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the BJP of backing a new political party to eat into minority votes during the upcoming assembly pollsWithout naming any party or any person Banerjee also claimed at an election rally in South 24 Parganas district the founder of that outfit receives money from the BJPA new political outfit has been launched in the state at the behest of the BJP to grab a share of the minority votes and help the saffron party Please dont vote for its candidates she saidAbbas Siddiqui a Muslim cleric had recently launched the ISF and it is supporting the LeftCongress alliance in the assembly elections the first phase of which is slated for SaturdaySiddiqui had also created a flutter by meeting All India MajliseIttehadul Muslimeen AIMIM chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi whose party is likely to contest in the pollsAt the rally in Patharpratima Banerjee said the CPIM and Congress have an understanding with the BJPOnly the Trinamool Congress can prevent implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Population Register in the state and ensure amity among different communities she saidResponding to repeated allegations by the BJP against her and the TMC Banerjee said Am I being called a thief and murderer because I love people and always rush to be on their side whenever requiredThe Trinamool Congress boss also dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as the lords of thieves demanding an explanation on provident fund dues of lakhs of employees and sale of PSU stakesOn cyclone Amphan and relief measures in its aftermath she said Out of the Rs 1 lakh crore of damages he Modi had promised only a small fraction Rs 1000 crore as help But whose money is this This is states money The Centre did not do Bengal any favour From cyclone Bulbul to Amphan we have always come to the rescue of people We monitored the situation risking our lives and not sit in the comfort of home The state government had managed to evacuate 19 lakh people from disaster zones during AmphanAround 30 lakh damaged houses are being rebuilt the CM saidThere can be one or two exceptions she said in reference to opposition parties allegations of graft in execution of rehabilitation work However if anyone has not received the relief amount the person can get the same bywriting to the administration after the electionsBanerjee also slammed Shah for asking in public meetings what the TMC had done for West BengalLet me ask him have you undertaken schemes like Kanyashree Sabujsathi and Khadyasathi Have you heard about Duare Sarkar and its success Are you giving ration free If the TMC returns to power it will unveil more such historic social welfare projects covering every section of society she assertedBanerjee alleged that Shah had instructed few media houses to project a higher number of seats for the BJP in surveys but first let it cross the 75seat mark which the saffron party will not be able toAt another rally in Sagar in South 24 Parganas district she gave the call for Unnatataro TMC sarkar a TMC government with increased focus on developmentcentric activitiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever