Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses a TMC rally in Kolkata on Saturday. (Source: Express photo) Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses a TMC rally in Kolkata on Saturday. (Source: Express photo)

Launching a scathing attack on the BJP, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday that the BJP leaders were ‘men of riots’. Addressing a rally organised by the TMC’s minority cell to observe “Babri Masjid demolition day”, she slammed the BJP for playing communal politics and said, “The Lotus party only loves the Lotus religion and spews out venom about all other religions.”

While Mamata was not scheduled to attend the meeting, she sprung a surprise by cancelling prior commitments and reaching the venue. “I was not scheduled to attend this meeting as I had some other programmes. But I could not resist myself from attending this meeting. So I came here to speak to you,” she said.

Reiterating her stand on the NIA investigation into the Burdwan blast, Mamata said, “These people are destroying the communal harmony here. They are arresting people from here and there and then they are labelling them as terrorist. They are terming all the madrasas as terror centre… Who are these people? From where have they come? They have spent their whole life instigating communal violence and riots. They are made of riots from head to toe and kidney to liver,” she said.

Saying that criminals do not have any religion she said, “The criminals should be punished. But one should not blame an entire community for one person’s crime. In Bengal, we have our minority brothers, who are 30 per cent of the total population. We have to look after them and we are always with them.” Her remarks at the meeting came at a time when the people from minority community in the state were reportedly started joining the BJP.

While the party has been on a warpath with the BJP-led government at the Centre, Mamata said on Saturday that she was ready to cooperate with the government if she gets cooperation in return. “If you can run the government well and in right way, we will cooperate. You will get cooperation in exchange of cooperation and non-cooperation in exchange of non-cooperation. If you want to demean us, we will fight,” she said.

Hinting that the CBI is being used as a political tool, she said, “In Bengal, the CBI had taken up several cases and some of the major cases like Nandigram firing, Tapasi Malik case in Singur, Netai case and Nobel theft case are with the agency. But what they could do in those cases? Could they bring back the Nobel of Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore? But at present they are being used as a political tool. Please do not do politics on everything.”

She further alleged, “They now think that they will kill Mamata and then say she was killed in a blast. But I know everything and I too have information. What cadres you have made? I have seen cadres of CPM too and I am not afraid. I am the guard of my people and if you want to touch them, you have to cross me first,” added Banerjee.

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