Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee Tuesday said BJP president Amit Shah should be made to squat holding his ears for his 'Kangal Bangla' remark, and alleged that his party is transporting money in CRPF vehicles to be distributed among people of the state.
She also attacked the Election Commission claiming that efforts to check entry of money into the state were hampered after the poll panel changed the police commissioners of Kolkata and neighbouring Bidhannagar.
Wondering whether the BJP president knows the meaning of 'kangal', she said, "How dare he say Bengal is kangal.... He should be made to squat holding his ears for saying this," Banerjee at election rallies here.
Shah had on Monday claimed at a BJP rally that under the TMC rule, 'Sonar (golden) Bangla' has been turned into "kangal (pauper) Bangla" and that it is the saffron party which can bring back the lost glory of the state.
The chief minister did not react to Shah's 'kangal Bangla' comment Monday, but senior TMC leader and Rajya Sabha member Derek O' Brien hit back calling Shah "puke-worthy" and a "low-life" who has insulted the state.
"Money is being transported in CRPF vehicles.... I have never seen the way money is flowing in this election. Such things have been seen only in the North-East but not elsewhere," Banerjee said at a public meeting.
Claiming that crores of rupees brought through hawala, she said it is shameful that money is being used to win votes. Even small leaders of the BJP are getting central police cover and these leaders are using police vehicles to transport money, the TMC supremo alleged.
Banerjee claimed that the commissioner of Bidhannagar Police, under whose jurisdiction lies the city airport, was changed to facilitate movement of money.
The Election Commission had on April 5 transferred Kolkata Police Commissioner Anuj Sharma and Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Gyanwant Singh ahead of the first phase of polling on April 11. Dr Rajesh Kumar, ADG, Pollution Control Board, was made the new Kolkata top cop.
The chief minister had then alleged that it was done at the behest of the opposition BJP leaders. Asserting that the EC will not be there after the polls, she said "I will find then out who have distributed the money and who took those."
She said the new commissioner of Kolkata Police will have to face the consequences if he is found to be partisan. Training her gun on the EC, she claimed that dates for the seven-phase election in the state was fixed as per the wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to suit their campaign schedule.
She alleged that hooligans from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand have been brought to West Bengal to foment trouble in the state during the election.
"Someone has to bell the cat. I have taken on them and that is why they (BJP) are so angry on us (TMC)," she said. Accusing the BJP leadership of vindictiveness, Banerjee claimed that the saffron party is using the Income Tax authorities and the CBI to scare opposition leaders.
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