The BJP on Wednesday accused the Trinamool Congress of abducting Gita and Raju Mehri, residents of Naxalbari who had hosted BJP chief Amit Shah over a meal at their home, and forcing the couple into accepting party membership.
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the couple had been abducted after Mr. Shah visited their home and had a meal there as part of his vistarak (expansion) yatra, and that the local police had not allowed the registering of an FIR in Siliguri because of political pressure.
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“We condemn these actions and declare that such tactics will not stop the expansion of the BJP in West Bengal. Can the Chief Minister of West Bengal truly expect to stop the expansion of the BJP like this? And even if she or her party is upset, should the consequences of this anger be visited upon an innocent tribal family?” he asked.
He added that a similar report of intimidation of a family that had hosted Mr. Shah in Bhabhanipur (Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee’s stronghold) had reached the party.
“The Trinamool Congress should realise that the investigations into the Saradha and Narada scams will not be affected by such tactics,” he added.
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Revenge politics
“It is a textbook case of revenge politics. And an ordinary tribal family is being victimised. The TMC appears shaken by the progress of the BJP. We are raising this issue in Delhi as it pertains to the tour of our national president,” he said.
He said that the incident also raised “a larger question of what was happening” in West Bengal.
“No shobha yatras during Hanuman Jayanthi were allowed, the court has to intervene on Durga immersion. Thus, on the one hand, there is appeasement of one section of the population, on the other, you intimidate people,” he said.