Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief, hit out at the BJP while paying tributes to an 82-year-old woman, who the saffron party says was the mother of a BJP worker. The 66-year-old Chief Minister, speaking in her constituency Nandigram on Monday, asked why did union Home Minister Amit Shah ‘remain mum’ when women were brutalised in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras.

“I don’t know how the sister has died. We don’t support violence against women. We have never supported violence against my sisters and mothers. But the BJP is now politicising the issue. Amit Shah is tweeting and saying ‘Bengal Ka Kya Haal hain’. Why does he remain mum when women are attacked and brutalised in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh?” Banerjee said while addressing a rally, reports PTI.

Banerjee was referring to Hathras rape case that made headlines in 2020. On September 14, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped by four men. After fighting for her life for two weeks, she died in a Delhi hospital. Her funeral triggered another storm with the family alleging that they were not informed and the police did her last rites in a hush-hush manner in the dead of night.

Also read: CBI’s charge sheet in Hathras gangrape case indicates UP administration’s shoddy handling

Shah, had on Sunday condoled the death of 82-year-old Shova Majumdar, who was allegedly attacked by Trinamool Congress (TMC) members in the Nimta area of West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. “Anguished over the demise of Bengal’s daughter Shova Majumdar ji, who was brutally beaten by TMC goons. The pain and wounds of her family will haunt Mamata didi for long. Bengal will fight for a violence-free tomorrow, Bengal will fight for a safer state for our sisters and mothers,” he said in a tweet.

At her rally in Nandigram, Banerjee also took a dig at her former close aide Suvendu Adhikari, who recently joined the BJP and is the party’s candidate against Mamata. “Too much greed is not good, they (Adhikaris) will be ‘na ghar ka ghat ka'”, she added.

Also read: Why Nandigram is critical for Mamata Banerjee and significant for BJP

West Bengal Assembly elections are being held in eight phases. The first phase was held on March 27, second is on April 1, when Nandigram will go to the polls. West Bengal is perhaps the most keenly-watched of all the states with the BJP putting up a spirited opposition to Trinamool Congress. Marked by defections, high-decibel campaigns and allegations of attacks, the campaign in the state was highly vitriolic to say the least.