Mamata says she is like Royal Bengal Tiger, cannot be intimidated by BJP

West Bengal ChiefMinister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee onTuesday likened herself to a Royal Bengal Tiger, saying thatshe is not a weak person who can be intimidated by the BJP.Addressing a rally here in Murshidabad, the capital ofNawab Siraj-ud-Daullahs empire, she also compared those wholeft the TMC to join the saffron party to Mir Jafar, acommander of his army who betrayed him in the Battle ofPlassey against the British in 1757.There is no reason to think I am weak, I am not aperson to be afraid of anything.

West Bengal ChiefMinister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee onTuesday likened herself to a Royal Bengal Tiger, saying thatshe is not a weak person who can be intimidated by the BJP.

Addressing a rally here in Murshidabad, the capital ofNawab Siraj-ud-Daullah's empire, she also compared those wholeft the TMC to join the saffron party to Mir Jafar, acommander of his army who betrayed him in the Battle ofPlassey against the British in 1757.

''There is no reason to think I am weak, I am not aperson to be afraid of anything. I am a strong person and willkeep my head high as long as I live and till then I will livelike a Royal Bengal Tiger,'' Banerjee said.

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of wronglyclaiming at a BJP meeting in Haldia on Sunday that governmentemployees in West Bengal do not get salaries properly, shealleged that it is the Centre which is selling off BSNL, SAILand privatising the Railways and insurance companies.

Banerjee also claimed that the Centre did not give anyassistance to West Bengal for dealing with the devastationcaused by cyclone Amphan last year, nor did it do anything tosupport the state to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Raking up the outsider issue, the TMC supremo claimedthat the BJP is a party of Gujarat and Delhi, which isbringing in National Register of Citizens (NRC) and NationalPopulation Register (NPR).

The state chief minister asserted that she will notallow these in West Bengal.

''People from Gujarat will not rule Bengal, theTrinamool Congress will rule Bengal,'' Banerjee said at therally held ahead of the assembly elections in the state due inApril-May.

Claiming that corrupt people sell themselves off, shesaid that those who want to leave the TMC and join the BJP arefree to go.

Alleging that some people are joining the saffronparty out of fear that they could be implicated in casesrelated to smuggling of cattle or coal, Banerjee said, ''TheBJP seems to be a washing machine, those having dirty handsemerge clean after joining it.'' She also attacked the Congress and the Left which willcontest the assembly polls jointly in the state.

''The Congress cannot fight the BJP and does not wantto do it. The CPI(M) is the BJP's big friend,'' she said,claiming that it is only the TMC which can take on the mightof the saffron party in the state.