Nadda's Lofty Claims Won't Fetch Votes For BJP: TMC MP Abhishek

Launching a scathing attack on BJP president J P Nadda for allegations levelled against the West Bengal government, senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday said "lofty claims" by the saffron party chief will not help it get votes in the state.
    
Addressing back-to-back rallies in Bengal during the day,  Nadda slammed the Mamata Banerjee-led dispensation in the state and said the time has come to bid farewell to the "jungle raj" of the TMC, which stands for 'Terror, Mafia, Corruption'.
    
The BJP leader also claimed that the state has been brought to a "standstill" under the TMC rule, with "no development in sight". 
    
Nadda, who was in Bengal on a two-day visit, said that the BJP would do what it takes to oust the TMC from power.
    
Later in the evening, while talking to reporters, Abhishek Banerjee challenged Nadda for a TV debate to compare the development works executed in the BJP-ruled states and the TMC-ruled Bengal.
    
"The BJP president had earlier made lofty claims, but his statements rarely translate into work on the ground. They need to realise that just making claims won't help them fetch votes. One has to work on the ground, something which Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress have done and are continuing to do so," the TMC national general secretary said.
    
Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, said politics should be done based on development work and not on the basis of religion.
    
"I would give an open challenge to BJP chief JP Nadda. The next time when he will be here, he should select a media house of his choice and bring his report card, and I will give details of the Bengal government's performance. We will then compare what the BJP-led central government has done for Bengal and what the Trinamool Congress dispensation has done for the state," he said.
    
He reiterated that the Centre has not cleared dues to the state under the MGNREGA scheme.
    
Referring to Nadda's comment that Bengal has the "highest crime rate against women", the Diamond Harbour MP of the TMC said the "National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, which the central government prepares, claims that Bengal and Kolkata remain the safest places for women".
    
"The NCRB report states that Uttar Pradesh tops the list of states when it comes to crime against women," The TMC leader added.