india

Updated: Aug 27, 2017 21:56 IST

Hitting out at the BJP for pursuing a divisive agenda, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee wondered whether the saffron party had given membership to god and will Hindus now have to take a certificate from it to authenticate their religious status.

Speaking at the RJD-sponsored ‘BJP Bhagao, Desh Bachao’ rally of 19 opposition parties in Patna on Sunday, Mamata said, “The BJP is now dictating what food we should eat, what we should wear and whom we should romance -- whatever they think is correct. At this rate, we will have to take a certificate from it (BJP) whom to worship, or which religion we belong,” she said.

“This attitude cannot be tolerated. India is a pluralistic country and such parochial thinking is a big threat for the nation,” she said.

Lacing her speech with Urdu couplets, Mamata asked the audience, ‘‘If nasbandi (male sterilisation) could turn into the reason for ouster of Indira Gandhi in 1977, why can’t the BJP be ousted for notebandi (demonetisation) in the 2019 election?”

Facing competition from the BJP in West Bengal in recent times, Mamata said the party should not care about the 2022 assembly polls in her state but instead focus on the 2019 parliamentary polls as people were making up their minds to oust them for not living up to their poll promises.

“The Opposition parties will remain. But the BJP and its allies will be wiped out,” she said.

Maintaining that she had a feel of the pulse of the people like RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Sharad Yadav, the Trinamool chief criticised the Narendra Modi government for failing to tackle lawlessness in Haryana and also over growing atrocities on Dalits in Gujarat.

She also took potshots at the BJP’s “mechanism of hijacking people’s mandate” by any means, saying it was a wrong move on the part of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to dump the grand alliance.

“Maal maharaj ka, mirza khele holi; vote Laluji ka, Modi kheley Holi (People voted for Lalu Prasad but Modi is now celebrating),” she said.

She quoted another couplet to trash the BJP for coining various idioms to cover up their failures.

“Roshni chand se hoti hai, sitaro se nahin; Mohabaat kaam se hoti hai, jumlon se nahin (The moon gives more light than the stars, people love you for your work not your false assurances,” she said.

The TMC chief recalled how she had come to Bihar on three previous occasions but it was out of love for Biharis and never for Nitish Kumar.

Asserting that opposition unity was the panacea for change of guard at the Centre, Mamata said she was ready to continue her struggle as she was a born fighter.

“I thank Laluji for having called this meeting at this juncture when there is a need for larger opposition unity in the country,”she said. “Hum dartey nahin (we fear no one),” she declared.