‘Gaddar’ & dad the real thieves: CM

KOLKATA/MAHISHADAL: In an all-out attack on BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari and his father Sisir Adhikari, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday referred to them as ‘Gaddar’ and ‘Gaddarer baba’ (traitor’s father) and claimed they were the real thieves who fled to BJP while blemishing Trinamool’s name.
“The Gaddar calls TMC members thieves... TMC’s name has got tarnished because of worthless crooks like you who left for BJP after committing crimes for which Trinamool now gets blamed,” Banerjee said at a campaign rally at Mahishadal under Tamluk constituency, wherefrom Adhikari’s brother Dibyendu had won from a TMC ticket in 2019.
Banerjee claimed the Adhikaris had not joined the Nandigram movement in the beginning.“When I entered Nandigram after 14 villagers were killed in police firing, neither Gaddar nor his father was there. People asked me to leave, fearing I would be killed. But I refused. Gaddar was nowhere. Although I mentioned that he was present in my book on Nandigram, I only said that because he was with our party then. If I get a chance to rewrite the book, I will strike his name off,” Banerjee said.
Adding that none from the Adhikari family was part of Trinamool when it was formed, Banerjee said “they were testing the waters”.
“At Nandigram, he (Suvendu) won against me in 2021 by cheating. He had switched off the power and tampered with the EVMs. A case is still on. Those who helped him — including some cops — will not be forgiven by the Almighty,” she said.
The CM also claimed Suvendu was “unhappy” and didn’t attend his father’s oath-taking ceremony as state minister in 2009. “He doesn’t even trust and love his own father,” she said.
“Now he acts like the President of India and decides who will keep their job and who will lose it. He walks around with a bomb in one pocket and central agencies in the other. He says he will burst a bomb and on that day, 26,000 people lose their jobs,” Banerjee said, adding: “If you want people to stay employed, vote for us.”
Banerjee said she loved the people of Nandigram, and urged Midnapore to choose TMC and not the family they picked last time. “They will give you money with the help of some cops. You can take it if you want but make sure you vote for us,” she said.
At a rally in Keshiari, Banerjee said BJP didn’t trust Bengalis and so had deliberately taken away jobs to ensure they couldn’t be on poll duty. “BJP has been rattled by what it saw in the first phase of elections” she said, campaigning for Midnapore candidate June Malia.
(With inputs from Sujoy Khanra in Midnapore)