West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said addressed a rally in Cooch Behar, during her speech she called the opponent of Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Udayan Guha, Bharatiya Janata Party's Nisith Pramanik a "goonda". Criticising the recent actions taken by the central probing agencies, Banerjee said that they (the central agencies) will not dare to touch the people of the state as long as she is in power.


Referring to Pramanik, CM Mamata said, "When he was in Trinamool Congress, he was a troublemaker. We threw him out of the party. For the BJP, he has become a treasured candidate... He roams around being a goonda. He even wears a police cap." 


"He is a cause of shame for the nation. Could BJP not find a clean candidate from the scheduled caste community to contest the Cooch Behar seat?" she added further. 






Mamata Banerjee Targets Centre On CAA: They Won't Dare Touch People Of Bengal As Long As I Am Here


Slamming the BJP, Mamata said, "All agencies have been put to work. The State officials are being transferred. How many officers from the central agencies - NIA, CBI, IT have been transferred?"


"I will take care of Bengal, as long as I am here, they will not dare to touch the people of Bengal. CAA was brought before the elections...As soon as you submit your name for registration, you will be declared a Bangladeshi," she said while addressing a rally in Bengal's Cooch Behar. 



Further questioning the timing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Mamata told the gathering: "CAA was brought before the elections. As soon as you submit your name for registration (CAA for citizenship), you will be declared a Bangladeshi". 


Cooch Behar Sees High-Octane Campaign


The scheduled Cast (SC) reserved constituency of Cooch Behar today witnessed a heated campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, with both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee holding rallies.


While TMC supremo Mamata held a rally in Cooch Behar around noon, the Prime Minister addressed a rally at the constituency's Rasleela ground around 3 PM, even though the venues are 30 kilometres apart. Cooch Behar is one of three seats in the state that will go to the polls in the first phase on April 19.


The Cooch Behar seat was once a stronghold of the Left Front constituent All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), which held it for an uninterrupted 32 years from 1977 to 2009, but it is now considered a BJP bastion, with the party winning five of the seven Assembly segments in the 2021 state elections.


Modi will hold his first rally in the state since the Election Commission (EC) announced the poll schedule on March 16.


The North Bengal constituency recently witnessed clashes between supporters of sitting BJP MP and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nisith Pramanik, and Udayan Guha, a TMC leader and a Bengal minister.


Re-nominated for the Lok Sabha, Pramanik's main opponent this time around will be Jagadish Barma Basunia, the TMC candidate who represents the Rajbanshi community and the current Sitai MLA.


Pramanik's main rival this time is Jagadish Barma Basunia, the TMC candidate representing the Rajbanshi community and the sitting MLA of Sitai.


PM Modi also kicked off the NDA's election campaign in Bihar on Thursday with his first rally in the state at Jamui.


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The Jamui Lok Sabha seat was won by the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), led by Chirag Paswan, the seat's incumbent MP. The party has fielded his brother-in-law Arun Bharti from Jamui for the elections, while Chirag will run from his father and former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan's stronghold of Hajipur.


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