'If Bengal burns, Delhi will also burn': Mamata warns PM Modi; Himanta says, 'don't show us your red eyes'

On the day the BJP called for a 12-hour Bandh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee warned the central leadership of the saffron party that if Bengal burns, then unrest will happen in Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, and Delhi. 

Addressing a public rally, Banerjee said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to burn West Bengal then no BJP-ruled state will be spared. "Remember, if Bengal burns, then Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Delhi will also burn," she said. 

BJP's Himanta Biswa Sarma and Sukanta Majumdar hit back at Mamata. "Didi, how dare you threaten Assam? Don't show us your red eyes. Don't even try to set India on fire with the politics of your failures. It doesn't suit you to use divisive language," Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. 

Calling it an anti-national statement, Union Minister and Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah, urging him to initiate appropriate actions to uphold the rule of law and maintain public order. "I am writing to bring to your immediate attention towards the recent statements made by CM Mamata Banerjee during her address to the Student Wing of TMC today in Kolkata where she shamelessly incited gathering, declaring, 'I never sought revenge, but now, do what needs to be done'." 

"This is nothing less than a blatant endorsement of revenge politics from the highest office in the state," the minister said. "She shamelessly makes anti-national remarks...this isn't the voice of someone holding a constitutional position; it's the voice of an anti-national. Her statement is a clear attempt to threaten, incite violence, and sow hatred among the people." 

Majumdar said Mamata no longer deserves to hold such an important position. "She must resign immediately. It is the fundamental duty of every public servant, especially someone in a position of such high authority, to promote peace and discourage any form of violence. The Chief Minister's stance during the meeting is alarming and undermines the safety and security of the citizens of West Bengal and the integrity of the state."

The BJP had called a 12-hour Bandh in protest against Tuesday's police action on participants of march to the state secretariat organised by the newly formed students' group Chatra Samaj over the rape and murder of the doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

Several BJP leaders, including former Rajya Sabha MP Roopa Ganguly and MLA Agnimitra Paul, were detained for blocking roads and railway tracks since the early morning. Ganguly and Paul were detained from south Kolkata's Gariahat area when they were urging traders to down their shutters and requesting people to support the bandh. 

Kolkata Municipal Corporation councillor Sajal Ghosh was detained from his residence in Sealdah shortly after BJP workers scuffled with TMC supporters while trying to enforce the bandh in the nearby Koley Market. His wife Tania Ghosh then took out a rally, alleging that police held him without any warrant.

(With inputs from PTI)