Intensifying her attack on the BJP over its alleged policy of giving clean chit to Opposition leaders who join the saffron party, Bengal CM Mamata held a "washing machine" protest in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Banerjee was seen putting in a black cloth into a model of a washing machine and pulling out a white cloth as her supporters shouted slogans of "washing machine BhajJaPa [BJP]". This was a symbolic representation of the Opposition's claims of the BJP misusing central investigative agencies to intimidate their leaders into joining the saffron party using criminal complaints and later dropping the charges when they joined the BJP.
The model was labelled as "BJP washing machine". The two-day protest against the Centre was held in front of the Ambedkar statue on Red Road (Indira Gandhi Sarani) in Central Kolkata. She said that the protest was organised by the TMC and Bengal treasury funds had not been used for it. "I represent both the Trinamool Congress as its chief and West Bengal as the CM," she said.
In 2021, too, Banerjee had called BJP 'washing powder Bhajpa'. She said that the BJP targeted Opposition leaders, accusing them to be corrupt. But when they joined the joined the BJP, all criminal charges against them were instantly dropped.
Even last month, Banerjee took a dig at Leader of Opposition in the Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikary to stress on the "washing machine" metaphor. The Statesman quote Banerjee as saying that it was widely known who owns the hotel, trawler, and other local businesses. BJP is like a washing machine where all dirty things go in and come out clean, she said without naming Adhikary, who had switched to BJP before the 2021 Bengal election.
Wednesday's attack on the BJP by the TMC came right ahead of the panchayat polls slated to be held in the next few months. The two-day sit-in protest in Kolkata aims to highlight the BJP-led Union government's alleged discriminatory attitude towards Bengal. Previously, she claimed that West Bengal had not received its due from the Centre, and that there was nothing for the eastern state in this year's budget.
Banerjee was accompanied by senior party leaders Firhad Hakim, Aroop Biswas, Subrata Bakshi, and Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as she began her protest against the Centre's alleged suspension of funds to the state for MGNREGA and other housing and road department schemes.
She claimed that the Centre has not released over Rs 7,000 crores in pending MGNREGA funds, despite West Bengal topping the list of states in completing MGNREGA work. "The Centre has stopped releasing funds for MGNREGA and Indira Awas Yojana (Grameen). Besides, it has also stopped scholarships for OBC students": she said on Tuesday, while launching a project to construct 12,000 km of rural roads.
With the 2024 Lok Sabha polls fast approaching, Mamata Banerjee is seemingly trying to form an anti-BJP front with non-Congress parties. Within a week, Banerjee has met her counterpart from Odisha Naveen Patnaik, former Karnataka CM HD Kumarawamy, and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav. The leaders, however, haven't announced any alliance yet.