Mamata Banerjee and JP Nadda (R)

KOLKATA: The BJP and ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal engaged in war of words after BJP working president JP Nadda on Saturday launched a scathing attack on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee .

Time is over for the TMC government in the state as Banerjee lacks "vision and direction" and is only interested in intimidating opposition parties by using "state terrorism", he said.

"There is jungle raj and reign of terror in West Bengal under TMC. The state is witnessing goondaraj as there is no rule of law here ... Family members of slain BJP workers in the state are not getting justice. But this jungle raj will end soon as the time for TMC government is over," he told reporters.

Claiming that democracy is being strangled in the state, Nadda said that the ruling TMC are physically torturing workers and leaders who have an opposing ideology.

More than 80 people have lost their lives in the political violence in Bengal in the last two years, he said.

"The police are not lodging cases and have turned into mute spectators. The protectors have become predators. Mamata Banerjee is neither giving the people justice nor allowing any proper judicial remedy," said Nadda, who is on his first visit to Bengal after taking over as the BJP working president said.

Claiming that many BJP workers had laid down their lives in their fight for democracy in Bengal, Nadda said the party vows to fulfill the dreams of slain party workers by making Bengal free from " goondaraj " and establish the rule of law in the state.

"More than 3,000 BJP cadre were forced to leave their homes after the 2018 panchayat elections in West Bengal and are in hiding. More than 2,500 BJP workers have been physically assaulted. Around 80 people have laid down their lives and around 1,000 wounded workers are being treated. Is this the example of rule of law or goondaraj ?" he asked.

"Banerjee is fast losing her political ground in West Bengal. She has no vision as the chief minister," Nadda said.

"The reign of terror and violence begin when ideology becomes non-existent. Banerjee has neither vision nor direction and has nothing to give to the people of Bengal," he said.

Claiming that the political violence seen in Bengal is not seen elsewhere in any part of the country, he said it was a case of ' Vinaasha kaale vipareetha buddhi ' (when one's doom approaches, then one's mind, one's intelligence works perversely), Nadda said.

"India is a land of democratic values and whoever tries to strangulate democracy will have to go. We will continue our fight for establishing democracy in Bengal," he said.

Nadda has come from the jungle, can't see development in Bengal: TMC

The Trinamool Congress hit back at BJP working president J P Nadda Saturday for his comment that jungle raj exists in Bengal and said that he cannot see development in the state as he has come from the jungle himself.

Senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim wondered why Nadda did not see jungle raj at the Centre as faulty policies of the BJP government has led to the weakening of the economy and job losses across the country.

"He (Nadda) himself has come from the jungle and that is why he sees jungle raj everywhere, even in the state of Bengal which has set a record in terms of developmental work. This is unfortunate," Hakim, who is also a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government, said.

His comments follow Nadda's criticism of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The BJP working president had said Banerjee is responsible for jungle raj and "reign of terror" in the state.

"When there are job losses across the country, the economy has nosedived, there are incidents of lynchings over religion, caste, can't he (Nadda) see misrule or Jungle raj?" Hakim questioned.



In Video: JP Nadda performs ‘Tarpan’ for BJP workers killed in West Bengal