Shah most unsuccessful home minister of country: Abhishek

Asked about Shahs comments holding the Mamata Banerjee government responsible for the deaths of so many people in the Anandapur fire tragedy, the TMC national general secretary shot back saying BJP leaders like Shah are doing politics with bodies and acting as vultures. Should Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi be held responsible for the deaths of so many people at a nightclub fire in BJP-ruled Goa

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday described Amit Shah as the ''most unsuccessful home minister'' the country has seen, accusing him of failing to ensure internal security and shifting the blame onto political opponents. Talking to reporters at the city airport, Banerjee said leaders like Shah are nothing but ''tourists'' who visit the state every month when polls are round the corner, make tall claims and false promises and then forget everything. Asked about Shah's comments holding the Mamata Banerjee government responsible for the deaths of so many people in the Anandapur fire tragedy, the TMC national general secretary shot back saying ''BJP leaders like Shah are doing politics with bodies and acting as vultures.'' ''Should Shah and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi be held responsible for the deaths of so many people at a nightclub fire in BJP-ruled Goa? Whom should they blame for the water contamination in Madhya Pradesh? Who is responsible for the deaths of over 140 people due to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state? Who is responsible for the deaths of people who stood in lines for hours after demonetisation?,'' Banerjee said. Describing Shah as the ''most unsuccessful, fake home minister India has ever seen,'' he said, ''If he speaks about infiltration, he must bear responsibility as the BSF, which guards the frontiers, is under the home minister.'' Accusing Shah of practising ''politics of division and politics of hatred'', Banerjee said, ''None should do politics over an unfortunate incident.'' Asserting that the state government had taken all necessary steps following the fire incident, he rejected BJP allegations related to one of the owners of the food outlet accompanying the chief minister on a foreign tour. ''Just because he accompanied the CM, we must keep in mind that Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi had accompanied Modi and other BJP bigwigs in visits abroad. Should Modi be held accountable for sharing photo with Choksi and Nirav Modi?,'' he asked. ''We must cooperate with each other to prevent such tragedies. And you must keep in mind that if you are pointing figure at someone, you must understand there are three other fingers that may be directed to yourself,'' he said. Banerjee said BJP should fight the TMC on the plank of development, political issues and economic growth rather than spreading hatred,'' rejecting Shah's remark that the chief minister would have been more proactive had the victims belonged largely to the minority community. Those were private godowns and the government cannot intrude into their inside space to conduct surveillance, he said. About Shah's attacks on TMC on the issue of corruption, Banerjee said, ''Shah should hold a mirror to his own party'', questioning why corruption charges against certain leaders including Suvendu Adhikari were dropped after they joined the BJP. ''Is the BJP a washing machine to remove stains of corruption? Why do central agencies stop investigations midway when leaders join the saffron party?'' he asked. Banerjee also rejected Shah's claim about the presence of lakhs of Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants in West Bengal, saying such allegations were not reflected in the draft electoral rolls published by the Election Commission. ''How many Rohingyas were there among 54 lakh unmapped voters?, he questioned, alleging that the BJP was attempting to disenfranchise over one crore genuine voters in the state by citing ''logical discrepancies'' as they had consistently voted against the party in recent elections. ''Over the last 5-10 years, you have come to Bengal multiple times, but where is your report card? We are going with our report cards among people. If the PM or the HM comes, the people will want to see their report card as well. What have they done for us? Show the statistics, how many people were given houses, how many roads were built, or how much money was paid to the state under Jal Jeevan Mission,'' Banerjee asked. Alleging that BJP leaders themselves are spreading fear among members of Matua community, he said saffron party leaders such as Asim Sarkar and Shantanu Thakur had said that scores of names of Matuas would be struck off of the electoral rolls even before the SIR started. ''Some said one lakh Matua names could be deleted, some said five lakh, while others claimed one crore names would be deleted. Shah must ponder over this before assuring Matuas and not shift blame on TMC,'' he said. Accusing Shah of having little knowledge about the history of Bengal during 34 years of Left rule, Banerjee said, ''He is unaware of how people were tortured during the Left regime, from Bantala to Chamkaitala and the Tapasi Malik case. There were several incidents of mass killings.'' Banerjee informed CM Mamata Banerjee will go to Delhi on Sunday and will lead a delegation to the Election Commission on February 2. ''We have been given a tentative time of 4 pm'', he said. Shah on Saturday mounted an all-out attack on the TMC government, accusing it of shielding infiltrators, institutionalising corruption and deliberately undermining border security for electoral gains.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)