Kamal Ghorui
KOLKATA: A day before polling for the first of the two-phase assembly election in Bengal, Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday gave a “bodol noy, bodla chai (revenge, not change)” call, flipping her old slogan of “bodla noy, bodol chai (change, not revenge)” of 2011, when she demolished the decades-old Left Front fort in the state with her historic win.Addressing rallies at Amdanga in North 24 Parganas and at Haripal in Hooghly, she said, “In 2011, I said ‘bodla noy, bodol chai’ – change, not revenge. This time I say ‘bodol noy, bodla chai’ – revenge, not change. Revenge at the ballot box, revenge for democracy. We will not allow Bengal to be set on fire like Lanka.”Attacking BJP for record central force deployment, she said: “Have you ever heard of a poll where they fight by bringing so much force from Delhi? You have brought armoured vehicles, held meetings with military, deployed BSF, CRPF, railways and aviation – forces from every state. Why? Do you want to open fire? Bring your armoured vehicles; I will stand alone.”“Do you need the military to conduct polls in Bengal? Go send them to Manipur – there hasn’t been peace there for three years,” she said.Banerjee also warned serving officers against doing BJP’s bidding. “You have forgotten that in the coming days, you will have to work in Bengal. IPS and WBPS officers have their own dignity. Maintain your neutrality. Why are you only targeting Trinamool? Why can’t criminal BJP candidates like Rakesh Singh be arrested?” she said, alleging central forces were “chanting BJP zindabad.”Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, addressing a rally on Wednesday, said BJP should be given a response that makes it “think 100 times before betraying Bengal again”.Later, former Bengal DGP and Trinamool MP Rajeev Kumar, part of a delegation that met CEO Manoj Agarwal, said, “Over 500 arrests have been made following verbal orders from police observers. Every officer who has issued or abetted unlawful arrest orders will be named, charge-sheeted and dragged before court. State borders offer no protection, nor does political immunity,” Kumar added.
