West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a veiled attack on the BJP on Wednesday while taking part in Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations at Red Road, escalating an intense war of words over nephew Abhishek Banerjee’s comments the day before.
“Tyaag ka naam hai Hindu, Imaan ka naam hai Musalman, Pyaar ka naam hai Isaai, Sikhon ka naam hai Balidan. Ye hai hamara pyaara Hindustan. Iski raksha humlog karenge. Jo humse takraega wo choor choor ho jaega. Ye hamara slogan hai,” she said.
On the eve of Eid, her nephew had and senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee had triggered another round of confrontation with the BJP, mocking the saffron party's new ‘Jai Maha Kali’ slogan, saying the saffron camp has replaced its ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan as its TRP is on a downward slide after the elections.
The BJP had on Monday said Bengal is the land of Maha Kali and the party's slogans in the state will be ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Maa Kali’.
"They (BJP) have decided to change the slogan from Jai Shri Ram to Jai Maha Kali as the TRP of Ram is on a downward slide. They are mixing religion with politics," Abhishek had said while addressing a protest rally against fuel price hike.
The inclusion of "Jai Maha Kali" in its list of slogans of BJP came at a time when the TMC has accused it of being a party of outsiders who do not understand the culture of Bengal.
The BJP in Bengal bagged 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats. The TMC's tally came down to 22 from 34 it had won in 2014.