Kolkata, March 6 Union Minister Giriraj Singh accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of holding a protest in the heart of the city to protect infiltrators from the minority community.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme, Singh alleged that the Trinamool Congress government would soon be voted out of power and warned "partisan state government officials and thugs sheltered by the TMC" to change their ways or face consequences.
"Banerjee is only interested in protecting infiltrators from the Muslim community, which constitutes the majority of her voter base. She should be ashamed that she is holding a protest in the Esplanade area to protect infiltrators, whose help she used to win the previous elections. But not anymore," the senior BJP leader said.
He claimed that the Rs 15 lakh-crore central grant given to the state had been misused by TMC functionaries, "who have built lavish homes and switched from bicycles to luxury cars in 15 years."
"From 25 per cent earlier, industrial growth has fallen to three per cent as the children born in the state over the past 15 years have a debt of Rs 80,000 crore," he alleged.
Singh, the Union Textiles Minister, said both the CPI(M) and the TMC had encouraged "goondaism" in the state.
"The intimidation and muscle-flexing by the TMC will not succeed anymore as the BJP will counter such tactics," he said.
Singh later inaugurated the BJP's Parivartan Yatra at Narayangarh in Paschim Medinipur district.
The rally, consisting of flower-decorated trucks draped in saffron colours, was one of the nine "Parivartan Yatras" being organized by the BJP across Bengal from March 1 to 10 as part of a mass outreach programme ahead of the Assembly elections.