As the political turmoil in Maharashtra continues to threaten the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, voices in the Opposition are questioning the role of Bharatiya Janata Party in the fiasco. Mamata Banerjee—now the strongest voice in the Opposition space—accused the ruling party at the Centre of spending crores (of rupees) to topple the Maharashtra government.
Addressing a convention of her party’s workers in West Burdwan on Tuesday, Banerjee pointed fingers at the BJP as the Maharashtra state government, and the Shiv Sena, faced an uncertain future.
"How many questions have the media raised? The Centre is spending crores as Maharashtra MLAs are being transacted," Banerjee said.
Banerjee also came down heavily on the way social media was being "manipulated" by the BJP, bringing up the issue of free expression, and of the recent arrests of AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair and activist Teesta Setalvad. “Why did they arrest Zubair? Why did they arrest Teesta?” Banerjee asked.
Without naming the BJP or its two representatives who made controversial remarks against Prophet Muhammed, Banerjee said: “Those people who abuse everyone, use derogatory language for religious deities are roaming free".
The West Bengal chief minister asserted that “people of such character and of deceitful nature will not be spared.”
She favoured social networks as long as they were used to disseminate facts and truth, she said, alleging that “for the BJP the social network means dissemination of fake videos".
Published 28 June 2022, 17:44 IST