If you feel just because you have come to power, you will demolish the statue of Marx, Lenin, Gandhiji, Netaji, Swami Vivekananda, we won’t accept that, said Mamata Banerjee.
KOLKATA (IANS) — Coming down heavily on the BJP for the demolition of a statue of Lenin and carrying out attacks on CPI-M activists and leaders in Tripura, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she would protest against such atrocities.
“Just because somebody has formed a government, it is not his job to raze statues of great men. Being in government does not mean it is somebody’s job to murder some others or attack opponents,” Banerjee told a public meeting in Patrasayar in Bankura district.
Sounding a warning to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has taken power in Tripura, the Trinamool Congress chief said she would not accept such activities despite having “a ideological fight” with the Communist Party of India-Marxist.
“If you feel just because you have come to power, you will demolish the statue of Marx, Lenin, Gandhiji, Netaji, Swami Vivekananda, we won’t accept that. I have fought with the CPI-M. We also came to power after 34 years. Please remember, our slogan was ‘we want change, not revenge’.
“So despite the CPI-M carrying out so much atrocities on us, we did not pay them back in the same coin. This is not our nature. Whatever is happening there (Tripura) is not democracy.”
On BJP West Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh saying that Marxist cadres have to be at the receiving end “to some extent” as saffron activists were beaten up and killed over the past 25 years of Left rule, Banerjee said “I have an ideological fight with the CPI-M, it will be there. I don’t support their atrocities. Likewise I don’t support the atrocities committed by the BJP.”
Alleging that the BJP had used money and muscle and committed electoral irregularities to win in Tripura, Banerjee said: “They bulldozed their way, used muscle power, spread money. There are also lot of complaints of tampering of Electronic Voting Machines.”
