New Delhi: The TMC on Friday hit out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks on the panchayat polls in West Bengal and said his statement was “distasteful” and “insensitive”.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien alleged that Shah’s remarks on the poll violence in West Bengal was gloating over the “politics of fake vote percentage”.
Days after the conclusion of the panchayat polls, Shah said even “bloodcurdling violence” could not stop the BJP from putting up a stellar performance in the elections.
He said the BJP nearly doubled its seat tally from the previous election, indicating a significant rise in the trust placed on it by the people.
In a tweet, O’Brien said, “Mr Home Minister Amit Shah what a distasteful, insensitive statement from you. How much lower can you go? As home minister, you have the responsibility to protect people, and keep the nation at peace. Instead of showing compassion to grieving families, you are gloating over the politics of (fake) vote percentages. Shame.”
O’Brien further said the percentage of votes that Shah claimed the BJP got during the polls is “inaccurate”.
“Your party’s vote percentage has dropped. The people of Bengal have rejected you. Again. I ask, what are you doing about Manipur? What are you doing about J-K? Decency and humaneness are two words that do not exist in your dictionary,” the TMC leader alleged.
Shah earlier said in a tweet, “The BJP nearly doubled its seat tally from the previous election indicating a significant rise in the trust placed by the people. This shows that the people’s affection lies with PM @narendramodi Ji-led BJP, and will surely lead the party to meteoric heights in Lok Sabha and assembly polls.”
He further said, “My heartfelt gratitude to the people of West Bengal and many Congratulations to Shri @DrSukantaBJP, Shri @SuvenduWB and the Karyakartas who stood firm with the party despite mercilessly adverse circumstances.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has claimed that 19 people, mostly from her TMC, died in the poll-related violence since the election date was announced on June 8. Police sources, however, have put the number of fatalities at 37.
According to the results declared so far, the ruling TMC has won over 35,000 gram panchayat seats out of the total 63,219. The BJP won nearly 10,000 seats while the Left-Congress bagged about 6,000.
The TMC has also won all 20 zila parishads, bagging 880 seats, while nearest rival BJP won 31 of the total 928. The Congress-Left Front alliance secured 15 seats while others won the remaining two.
The ruling party emerged victorious in over 6,450 panchayat samiti seats. The BJP won nearly 1,000 seats while the CPI(M) and the Congress won over 180 and 260, respectively.
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