"Don't be under any illusion": West Bengal Minister criticises PM Modi over "ganga flows through Bihar to Bengal" remark

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], November 15 (ANI): West Bengal Minister Shashi Panja has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recent remark that the "Ganga flows from Bihar to Bengal", telling him not to be under any "illusion".
Panja accused the Prime Minister of insulting the women of West Bengal and alleged that the Centre has blocked funds meant for the state government.
"PM Modi, don't be under any illusion. Victory in Bengal is far fetched for BJP. You have insulted the women of Bengal, you have deprived funds to Bengal, you have deprived schematic funds to the women of Bengal, you have always shown disrespect. You and the other leaders of the BJP have shown disrespect to women of Bengal," Shashi Panja said.
She called the BJP "Bengal virodhi zameendars", claiming the party carries an "anti-Bengal" approach.
"In Bengal, BJP is known as 'Bengal virodhi zameendars'. So, this is the stature of BJP. They are anti-Bengal, they carry an anti-Bengal sentiment. Thus, the forthcoming Assembly elections in Bengal do not hold any hope or any chance of any victory because women will give the right answer. Women will give the answer through democratic elections," the Minister added.
Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP President Samik Bhattacharya backed the Prime Minister's comments and pointed to what he described as a breakdown of law and order in the state.
"PM Modi has said what needed to be said... What is happening in West Bengal is total anarchy, total absence of law and order... The public of West Bengal has decided to renounce the TMC government under any circumstances," Bhattacharya told ANI.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the NDA's sweeping victory in Bihar has opened the path for the BJP in next year's assembly elections.
He said the party will end "jungle raj" in West Bengal.
Addressing a victory function at the party's headquarters here, PM Modi took several jibes at Congress and RJD following the results of the Bihar polls in which the two parties were decimated.
The PM referred to some states and union territories where the BJP has never formed a government of its own and said the massive victory in Bihar has infused party workers in Kerala, Puducherry and West Bengal with new energy.
The National Democratic Alliance secured 202 seats, a three-fourths majority in the 243-member House.
This is the second time the NDA has crossed the 200 mark in the assembly polls. In the 2010 polls, it had won 206 seats.
In the NDA, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 89 seats, Janata Dal (United) won 85, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) (LJPRV) won 19, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HAMS) won five, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha won four seats.
In Mahagathbandhan, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won 25 seats, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) - CPI(ML)(L) - two, Indian Inclusive Party (IIP) - one, and Communist Party of India (Marxist) - CPI(M) - one seat.
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won five seats, and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got one seat.
The Bihar assembly elections were conducted across two phases on November 6 and 11, respectively. Bihar recorded a historic 67.13% voter turnout, the highest since 1951, with women voters outpacing men (71.6% vs 62.8%). (ANI)