Using the Bangla sub-nationalism card in a bid to counter the rising Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has insisted that those living in Bengal will have to learn to speak in Bangla. She also accused the BJP of targeting Bangalees and minorities to replicate the "Gujarat model" to capture power in the state.
Addressing a Trinamool Congress rally in Kanchrapara on Friday afternoon, Mamata said she would never allow the BJP to turn West Bengal into Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, and asserted that "we will never allow Bangalees to become homeless in Bengal".
She said "we have to take Bangla forward. When we go to Delhi we speak in Hindi, when we go to Punjab we have to speak in Punjabi. I do it. When I go to Tamil Nadu, I don't know the Tamil language, but I know a few words. So, in the same way if you are coming to Bengal you have to speak in Bangla...We would not allow that people will come from outside and beat up Bengalis."
"In Naihati, Kakinara, Barrackpore, houses of Bangalees have been ransacked. We will not tolerate this. Our party cadres didn't ransack houses of non-Bangalees here. We are against this sort of violence," she said."Just because they have won a few seats by programming EVMs doesn't mean that you can beat up Bangalees and minorities in the state. We will not tolerate this. The police will take action against the hooligans. If someone is living in Bengal, he or she has to speak in Bangla,” Mamata said.
The Chief Minister said "I have nothing against non-Bangalees living in Bengal. But BJP is trying to create a Bangalee and non-Bangalee divide. I would urge them not to test our patience. We will never allow Bangalees to become homeless in Bengal." Alleging that BJP is trying to turn Bengal into Gujarat, Banerjee said just like BJP conducted riots in the western state to retain power, it is trying to use the same technique in Bengal.
"We have nothing against Gujarat or residents of that state. We are against the politics of riots that BJP had followed in that state and is trying to replicate here. As long as I am there, I would never allow them to turn Bengal into Gujarat," she said.