Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 28 : Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee reiterated on Thursday the need to continue the protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and asserted that 10 crore Bengalis will march to Delhi if even one person is denied their right.
Addressing the Foundation Day of Trinamool Chatra Parishad (student wing of Trinamool Congress), he expressed confidence that the TMC will win more seats than in the 2021 Assembly polls.
Abhishek Banerjee said, "I would request you to keep protesting against SIR. If even one person is denied their right, then 10 crore Bengalis will march to Delhi, gherao Rajpath, and prove their might. Everyone is against Trinamool: the judiciary, BJP, central agencies, ED, press, CBI, EC. But 10 crore Bengalis are for Trinamool. Come fight us. 10 crore Bengalis on one side and the centre's ED, CBI on the other. However many seats we got last time, I can promise you we will win more seats this time. In 2011, we won 184 seats and came to power for the first time. In 2016, it became 211. In 2021, it became 215. I challenge the BJP to win more than 50 seats. We don't do politics of destruction. We do politics of welfare. We will stay beside the people of Bengal."
"If we can fight for 69 lakh job card holders, then for the 10 crore Bengalis whom they have called Bangladeshis, we can also give them an answer."
He further said that earlier, people voted and elected their own representatives to power.
Abhishek Banerjee said, "Earlier, we saw everyone voting and electing their own representatives to power. But today, we see that the current government, to protect their own interests, is choosing its voters. Earlier, people used to choose the government; now the government is choosing the people (who will be allowed to vote). Will Bengal fight against this or not?"
Speaking on the row over the alleged insult to the Bengali language, he said that Bengal showed the way to India.
"They said there is no language such as Bengali. In which language did Rabindranath Tagore speak? Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Matangini Hazra, Jibanananda Das, Michael Madhusudan Dutt? In which language did they all speak? If Vidyasagar weren't there, you wouldn't even be able to write your parents' names. Bengal's contribution to India's independence is irrefutable. Bengal showed the way to India," he said.
Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had accused the Delhi Police of describing Bengali as a "Bangladeshi language", calling it scandalous, anti-national and unconstitutional.
Sharing a letter by Delhi Police on X, Banerjee said, "See now how Delhi police under the direct control of the Ministry of Home, Government of India, is describing Bengali as 'Bangladeshi' language! Bengali, our mother tongue, the language of Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, the language in which our National Anthem and the National Song (the latter by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) are written, the language in which crores of Indians speak and write, the language which is sanctified and recognised by the Constitution of India, is now described as a Bangladeshi language!!"
BJP leader Amit Malviya hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, suggesting that she be booked under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly inciting linguistic conflict.
He argued that her reaction to the entire issue was "misplaced and dangerously inflammatory", while adding that Delhi Police's letter does not describe Bangla as a 'Bangladeshi' language.
"Mamata Banerjee's reaction to Delhi Police referring to the language used by infiltrators as 'Bangladeshi' is not just misplaced, it is dangerously inflammatory. Nowhere in the Delhi Police letter is Bangla or Bengali described as a 'Bangladeshi' language. To claim otherwise and call upon Bengalis to rise against the Centre is deeply irresponsible. Mamata Banerjee should be held accountable--perhaps even under the National Security Act--for inciting linguistic conflict," Malviya posted.