Amit Shah rally in Malda: ‘Mamata di, you can’t remove Modi by gathering 23-25 leaders’ says BJP chief in Malda rally

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Tuesday kickstarted campaign for 2019 Lok Sabha Elections in West Bengal by holding a rally in Malda district.

Hitting out at Mamata Banerjee-led state government, Shah accused the Trinamool Congress of killing people. He further accused the TMC of backing cow smugglers and vowed to throw out the “tyrannical government”.

Considering his health condition, the microphone through which Shah is delivering his speech is sanitised. Amit Shah was diagnosed with swine flu last week and was discharged from AIIMS on Sunday.

The BJP chief will address rallies in Jhargram and Birbhum districts on Wednesday.

His rallies come just a few days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a mega public meeting in Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground, which was attended by almost all top opposition leaders.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal unit of the BJP earlier today accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers of vandalising decorative gates and posters ahead of Shah’s rally.

“Gates, welcome arches, posters, cut-outs, festoons have been vandalised ahead of our national president’s rally. Gates have set on fire. Vehicles carrying our supporters are being stopped in many places,” state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.

He further claimed that BJP supporters and activists were harassed and threatened not to attend the programme. “Despite all these, our supporters are active and the process of paribartan (change) has been started,” he added.

On Monday, the BJP had claimed that Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government has denied permission for the landing of Shah’s helicopter at an airstrip in Malda on Tuesday. Banerjee had rejected the charge, calling them “absolutely not true”.

“The desperation and fear of the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee are clearly visible in this decision. The state government is trying to block every programme of Amit Shah, be it a rally, yatra or the landing of his chopper,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had, however, said only the place of landing was changed for safety reasons.

The BJP finally received permission to land the helicopter either at the helipad in Golden Park Hotel at the one used by the Border Security Force in the district.