india

Updated: Sep 29, 2019 10:38 IST

BJP working president J P Nadda launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress on Saturday saying the “protector had become the predator” in Bengal.

“There is no law and order here. It’s jungle raj. Everyday, those professing a different school of thought are being eliminated,” said Nadda. He was in the state to offer prayers for BJP workers allegedly killed in violence over the past couple of years in Bengal.

The Trinamool hit back saying that Nadda only sees “jungle raj” and not development because he has “come from the jungle.”

“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,” said Firhad Hakim, senior Trinamool leader and a minister in the Mamata Banerjee government.

Also read:‘Not politics’: Mamata Banerjee meets PM Modi with an invite and a request

Nadda had alleged there had been about 2,500 attacks on BJP supporters and 80 people had died in violence in Bengal in the past few years. “She (Mamata Banerjee) has got no vision, no direction and nothing to give to the people of West Bengal. It’s only violence,” he said and added that the BJP will end the “jungle raj” in the state.

Hakim questioned the performance of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre. “When there are job losses across the country, the economy has nosedived, there are incidents of lynchings, can’t he (Nadda) see jungle raj?” he said.

The BJP and the Trinamool have been involved in war of words over the few months as they gear up for the 2021 Bengal polls. The hostilities intensified after the BJP made massive inroads in Bengal in the Lok Sabha elections winning eight seats, up from two in 2014. The Trinamool’s seat tally came down to 22 from 34 in 2014.

There seemed to be as brief lull in the broadsides after chief minister Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi and invited him to Bengal to naugurate the world’s second largest coal block.