Kolkata, April 20 (IANS) In a sharp attack on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday accused West Bengal authorities of deliberately switching off streetlights in a locality during her roadshow in Kolkata to hinder her campaign and endanger thousands of people who had gathered to support BJP candidates.

Addressing the massive crowd amid the darkness, Gupta said, “The way all the streetlights have been switched off to stop me from campaigning. And if any accident happens here today in these lanes, then I would like to tell all the media people that it is the full responsibility of the TMC government, their goons and the administration. Thousands of people have gathered here today, and all the streetlights have been switched off in the locality. The Chief Minister of the other state is here; if any security lapse is there, then the responsibility will be on Mamata Didi…”

Gupta was in Kolkata as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s aggressive campaign ahead of the crucial West Bengal Assembly elections, scheduled in two phases on April 23 and 29.

She expressed strong confidence in the BJP’s prospects, stating, “Everyone is seeing the way the public is blessing our candidates. This time, the BJP will definitely come to power in Bengal.”

The Delhi Chief Minister also trained her guns on the TMC’s record on women’s safety and respect.

“They have neither given security to women nor given them respect. Today, there is an atmosphere of fear and panic among the women of Bengal. How can we forget those days when Mamata Banerjee had said about women that ‘what is the need to go out at night?’” she remarked.

Gupta further alleged, “The way the TMC and its allied parties have treated women has been unjust, and for the past 15 years, atrocities against women have been continuously taking place in Bengal.”

The roadshow witnessed a huge public turnout, which Gupta interpreted as a clear sign of shifting political winds in favour of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of development and good governance.

–IANS

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