'Bengal has seen far more bloodshed than Manipur,' Anurag Thakur asks Rahul to visit Mamata's state

Minister slams Mamata: Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday (July 29) claimed that West Bengal has witnessed “far more bloodshed” than Manipur and asked Congress top brass to visit Mamata Banerjee-led state soon before people start questioning their absence.

Manipur has been reeling under ethnic violence for nearly three months. The Opposition delegation is on a two-day visit to the state amid the deadlock in the ongoing Parliament session which has so far been nearly whitewash.

The Union Minister alleged that over 50 people were killed in the recently concluded Panchayat polls in West Bengal, and accused the TMC workers of carrying out violence on the instructions of chief minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee.

"Bengal has seen far more bloodshed than Manipur. I will ask Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to visit Bengal soon or else the common people of the state will question their absence," Thakur said.

“The opposition leaders are trying to hide their real face under another name. The public knows their true colours,” he added.

Anurag Thakur slams UPA

He alleged that around 300 people were killed in a day in Manipur during the UPA rule.

“The state used to remain shut for six months at a stretch and prices of petrol and diesel had skyrocketed, but Congress leaders never addressed those issues. But, BJP was ready to hold discussions on the Manipur issue on the first day of Parliament. The opposition leaders are trying to run away from such discussions,” he said.

The minister said the BJP has doubled the number of seats in the rural polls as compared to the previous election, which is an indication that Banerjee's "days at the helm are numbered".

"In the recently concluded panchayat polls, over 57 people lost their lives. To fulfil Mamata Banerjee's wishes, people were killed. Law and order in West Bengal is in a shambles. Mamata Didi, your party leaders under your instruction resorted to hooliganism (during this panchayat polls)," Thakur told reporters.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale hit back at the Union Minister and said it was very ironic that Thakur was once banned by the Election Commission of India (ECI) from campaigning in Delhi elections for his "Goli Maaro" remark.

"Anurag Thakur is a man who during the Delhi elections was banned by the ECI from campaigning because he went in public and threatened to shoot people with the 'Goli Maaro' slogan. So, it is ironic when he even utters the words poll violence. I don't know how long he is going to keep his ministry, but this method of pleasing his bosses is definitely not going to work," Gokhale said.

(With PTI inputs)

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