BJP 'not worried' over legal threat to Shah

TT, Calcutta: Bengal BJP leaders have said they are not worried about threats from Trinamul to initiate legal actions against BJP national president Amit Shah and state chief Dilip Ghosh for their speeches at the rally here on Saturday.

"Let them (Trinamul Congress) do whatever they wish to. We are not afraid of any legal action or police cases against us. There are several fake cases against all those who are with the BJP in Bengal," BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu told a news conference here on Sunday afternoon.

Basu asserted that every word of Shah was backed by facts and challenged Trinamul to contest the BJP chief's claim with counter facts and figures if any at all.

"We have all facts with us and Amitji had said whatever he chose to based on facts. He is not a person to make false allegations. I am challenging Mamata Banerjee and her party to prove that Amitji was wrong," Basu said.

med Shah's remarks and asked him to apologise for having "insulted" Bengal. "Amit Shah has insulted Bengal. He doesn't understand Bengal and its people and has no knowledge of its tradition and culture. Blatant lies.... We are giving him 72 hours, or else, we will take legal action against him," Derek O'Brien, Trinamul's leader in the Rajya Sabha, said on Saturday, calling Shah's rally a "flop show".

Basu accused Trinamul of vandalising buses carrying BJP supporters from Shah's rally on Saturday. "From yesterday (Saturday) evening, while our supporters were returning home, their buses were being attacked on roads by Trinamul goons at Basirhat and many parts of South 24 Parganas. Our party offices were attacked at midnight yesterday at Mograhat and several other places under Abhishek's (Banerjee) Lok Sabha constituency. Even as I am talking to you, the BJP office in Bishnupur is being ransacked by the ruling party's goons," Basu said.

The BJP leader asked the state administration to act neutrally. "Otherwise, once the BJP starts retaliating, there will be a major law and order problem in the state. The BJP is ruling 19 states of the country. And if the BJP starts retaliating, Trinamul will not be found anywhere. Mamata Banerjee should remember this," Basu said.

He alleged that Trinamul goons were damaging BJP cars, vandalising party offices, destroying laptops and furniture across the state.

"We have drawn the attention of police and district administration to the attacks. I personally spoke to the Bankura SP over the phone today (Sunday) but all seems to be a futile exercise as the police are mute spectators to such attacks on us," Basu said.