WB BJP president challenges Mamata to name the CBI officers who threatened TMC leaders

Addressing the Martyrs' Day rally, Mamata alleged that central agencies were threatening leaders and elected representatives of her party to "get in touch" with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or face a prison term in chit fund scams.

Mamata also alleged that CBI officers had asked her party workers to get in touch with the BJP or face custody in connection with chit fund scams.

''I challenge her to name the CBI officers, who threatened her party leaders," said Mr Ghosh. "If she is unable to name any officer, she should refrain from making baseless allegations.”

Addressing a massive rally here to mark the martyrs' day, Mamata said they would approve the Election Commission to restore ballot papers system, which is in vogue in European nations, US, Canada and other developed countries.

“The 2019 election is a mystery, not history. We don’t need EVM. We want the ballot box to be brought back," the TMC supremo said.

"We want to tell the Election Commission in the state that municipality and other elections in the state should be supported via ballot boxes. Why don’t France, Japan, Netherlands and other countries fight elections using EVMs?" she asked.

Mamata also sounded the bugle for the 2021 Assembly elections in the state and claimed that the BJP was bulldozing the federal system and selling off all the government-owned companies, which also led to the laying off some two crores from employment in the past five years.

"Bills are introduced but we are clueless. The federal structure is being bulldozed. They (the BJP) are resorting to the lynching of Dalits, Hindus, Christians," she alleged.

Reacting to Banerjee's allegation that the BJP was luring TMC MLAs with an amount of Rs 2 crore and a petrol pump, Ghosh said none of them, not even the chief minister, had such high market value.

"One person is being made to join BJP three times. You have no shame. You are hiring them on rent (by paying them money to join BJP) and they turn back to TMC after that. You cannot use the money to play a political game, You will be isolated by people,” Mamata added.

Mamata alleged said that the saffron party was trying to "replicate Karnataka's horse-trading model" in Bengal by offering Rs 2 crore in cash and petrol pump each to her party MLAs.