A day after she was accused by the BJP of being the puveyor of the “politics of fear and reckless violence”, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee returned fire, accusing the saffron party of “trying to browbeat” her party.

Banerjee’s retort comes in the backdrop of a tribal couple, who played host to BJP President Amit Shah during his visit to Naxalbari in North Bengal, claiming allegiance to the Trinamool.

Raju and Geeta Mahali were widely photographed treating Amit Shah to a simple lunch at their modest home in Naxalbari on April 25. They were photographed again, on Wednesday, this time with senior TMC leader and Tourism Minister Gautam Deb, when they joined the party.

The BJP promptly fielded Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to accuse the Chief Minister of bullying and terrorising common people and using the tribal couple for petty politics. He alleged that the TMC had “kidnapped” and coerced the couple into joining the party for scoring political points.

“Yesterday, the TMC kidnapped the Mahali couple. The BJP tried to register a case in Siliguri but we did not succeed. Today, the couple returns and joins the TMC as the police stand guard. This is the same scenario everywhere in Bengal,” Prasad said.

“For almost three decades, Bengal was a victim of Left-wing terror and reckless violence. The tragedy is that the State has now been overpowered by the politics of fear and same reckless violence being unleashed by the TMC,” Prasad said, asserting that the TMC’s belligerence is owing to the fact that the CM is “rattled” by the BJP’s growth in Bengal.

Banerjee, on her part, accused the BJP of launching fake investigations and using central probe agencies against her with the aim to politically decimate her. Citing the example of Bollywood star Kajol, who had to issue clarifications after posting a video of a beef dish online, the West Bengal CM said that the BJP is forcing a version of Hindutva that dictates personal behaviour and eating habits.

“I won’t name the actress. She has worked in many films with Shah Rukh Khan. Recently she had posted a video online following which she was harassed and trolled online. She had to clarify that it was not beef but buffalo meat. It is an alarming situation,” Banerjee was quoted as saying by news agencies. She said that it was a “dangerous” trend that some people became so intolerant that “they are trying to dictate what others will eat“.

In a reference to Amit Shah’s visit, Banerjee said, “They are trying to teach us the culture and ethics of Bengal… They are not the sole flag-bearers of Hinduism. Who are they to teach us about religion?” she asked.

Banerjee accused the BJP of “trying to browbeat” her party by “using the CBI and the ED” as it had dared to speak up against the saffron party.

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