Last Update: February 12, 2023, 00:22 IST
Abhishek Banerjee at Coochbehar rally. (News18)
Speaking at a rally in Bengal’s Cooch Behar city, Banerjee said 24-year-old Prem Kumar Barman had returned from Bangalore to his native village when BSF officers allegedly shot him.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday took a jibe at the Border Security Force (BSF) citing an incident in which the force allegedly shot an innocent civilian.
Speaking at a rally in Bengal’s Cooch Behar, Banerjee said 24-year-old Prem Kumar Barman had returned from Bangalore to his native village when BSF officers allegedly shot him.
“I want to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and his deputy, Nishith Pramanik to tell me and the public what was Prem Kumar’s mistake? Why did the BSF jawans shoot him? Was it because he was a Rajbanshi? What was Prem Kumar’s crime?” he said.
He also gave 48 hours’ notice to the BSF and the Prime Minister to present their stand on the issue and apologize to the public.
Another issue Banerjee addressed was the BJP’s reported call for a separate state in north Bengal.
“Today’s public meeting in Coochbehar is against those who are demanding separation of Bengal. This rally is to target them and warn them against holding such views. Let me tell these leaders in clear words that Bengal will never be divided.
His comments come at a time when the TMC is leaving no stone unturned to woo voters from North Bengal, a region where the party did not do well in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Meanwhile, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has increased her visits to North Bengal with Abhishek as the Rajbanshi vote is a big factor in the region.
The saffron party has reacted to this, with BJP president Sukanto Majumdar saying that “Banerjee is playing Rajbanshi there. BSF has really stopped cow smuggling, money of smuggling is not coming to them that’s why they are saying all this.
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