Mumbai: Launching a vitriolic attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged the nation is facing a “cruel and undemocratic party” and cited the “victimisation” of Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan to justify her assertion.
Underlining the need of unity, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said “India loves manpower not muscle power”.
“We are facing a cruel undemocratic party the BJP. If we are together, we will win,” NDTV quoted Banerjee as saying before a huge audience including political leaders, social activists, former High Court judges and celebrities.
“Mahesh ji (film director Mahesh Bhatt), you have been victimised, Shah Rukh Khan has also been victimised. If we have to win, we have to fight and speak out wherever you can. You guide us and give us advice as a political party,” she added.
The TMC supremo, who is currently on a two-day visit to Maharashtra, invoked a poem by Bengal’s iconic poet Rabindranath Tagore on Maratha king Shivaji and said there is already a “bridge” between Bengal and Maharashtra.
The West Bengal Chief Minister’s meet in the Maharashtra capital was attended by former Congress leader Sanjay Jha, Sudheendra Kulkarni and Shatrughan Sinha, former High Court judges Shafi Parkar and Abhay Thipse, activists Teesta Setalvad and Medha Patkar, author Shobha De and several Bollywood celebrities including Rahul Bose and Konkona Sen Sharma.