CM to party: Do not be afraid of BJP

TT, Calcutta, April 21: Mamata Banerjee today advised party colleagues not to be afraid of the BJP, accusing it of resorting to "only conspiracies, only coercion".

"Are we afraid?" she asked thrice to the roar of "no" from thousands of Trinamul workers who had assembled at Netaji Indoor Stadium for electing the party chairperson.

"Don't be afraid. We will never be afraid, no matter how much force you use against us because we speak for the people, because we took a stand against demonetisation. There is no law in the BJP rule, only conspiracies, only coercion," added Mamata, who was unanimously elected the Trinamul chairperson.

With 12 senior leaders named in the Narada FIR by the CBI, including the likes of Mukul Roy, Madan Mitra and Subhendu Adhikari, sources said Mamata was aware of the jitters in her party.

Besides, over the past few months, national BJP leaders like Kailash Vijayvargiya and state party chief Dilip Ghosh have repeatedly been threatening her party publicly with a slew of arrests in the top leadership.

"The threats seem more credible now as the CBI probes into the deposit-mobilising defaults appear to have gained momentum after the BJP's sweep in the Uttar Pradesh polls," a Trinamul leader said.

Sources said the Trinamul chief was aware that several leaders from the party had reportedly reached out to the BJP's national leadership since the Narada probe was handed to the CBI.

"How many leaders will you jail? You will have to stop everything else and only construct jails from now on. You can jail all our ministers, MPs, MLAs... even then, you will run out of jails. We will not run out of strength because the people are with us," she said.

" Yeh jail ka khel khatam ho jayega (this game of jails will end)," she added.

For the most part of her 50-minute speech, Mamata spoke in Hindi in an attempt to reach out to the pan-Indian audience.

She then asked those named in the Narada FIR to stand up on the dais - transport minister Adhikari and Khanakul MLA Iqbal Ahmed were not present today - and said they had been "victimised" because they had fought for the people.

"Nothing will be proved. There is nothing to worry about.... If you plant us in jail, our branches will grow enough to throw you out of Delhi," she said.

The Bengal chief minister also stressed on the need for non-BJP regional parties to unite and oust the BJP from the Centre in 2019.

"It is the need of the hour, for the sake of the nation.... The BJP lost decisively in Bengal, Bihar, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. Everyone knows how they formed the government in Goa and Manipur.... Only on the basis of your victory in Uttar Pradesh, you have unleashed lawlessness across the country," she said.