Itahar/Buniyadpur (West Bengal): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asked the people to keep vigil about transportation of boxes of various colours, in an oblique reference to allegations of a black trunk having been offloaded from the prime minister's helicopter in Karnataka.
Speaking at two rallies in Balurghat constituency, Banerjee also launched an attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) saying that it had imbibed the "shopping mall culture".
"I urge the public to keep their eyes and ears open as during elections, boxes of various colours — red, blue and other colours — are coming," Banerjee said without naming anyone.
On Sunday, the Congress had demanded a probe into the alleged transportation of a "suspicious black trunk" in Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's helicopter during his visit to Chitradurga in Karnataka for poll campaign.
Modi had addressed an election rally in Chitradurga on April 9.
The party also played a video clip purportedly showing that the trunk, after being unloaded from the PM's helicopter, was carried to a private car that, it alleged, was not a part of the SPG carcade and was taken away.
Taking on the RSS, the Trinamool Congress supremo said, "Those who used to wear khaki shorts have now imbibed the shopping mall culture."
The RSS has shed its 90-year-old dress code and knee-length khaki shorts have been replaced by brown trousers.
She reiterated her allegation that the Congress was taking assistance of the RSS to help its Jangipur and Baharampur candidates win.
While Abhijit Mukherjee, the son of former President Pranab Mukherjee, is the Congress candidate at Jangipur, former West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Adhir Chowdhury is the the party's candidate from Baharampur.
Claiming that the BJP was indulging in politics of dividing people on religious lines, Banerjee said she was ready to risk her life but would not allow politics of division.
"It (BJP) claims to be champion of Hinduism. Are we not Hindus?" she asked, saying that her parents had taught her to respect all religions and treat them equally. The firebrand Trinamool Congress supremo, who is a Brahmin, said she chants Chandi mantra every morning.
"The BJP is imposing on us a religion which has no relation to Hinduism or our country. We believe in togetherness of different faiths and languages," she said.
Claiming that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has worked against the interest of the general public of the country, she alleged that prices of petroleum products were increased everyday when crude oil rates were low in the international market.
"The LPG price has touched Rs 800 per cylinder. If a poor person has to buy gas at such a high price, he will be left with no money to buy food," she said.
Claiming that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam had left lakhs of Hindu and Muslim Bengalis stateless, she asserted that she would not allow it in West Bengal.
BJP president Amit Shah has said in various rallies in West Bengal that the saffron party would implement the NRC in the state if voted to power again.
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