BJP to face Sri Lanka, Afghanistan-like protest by people: Abhishek Banerjee

TMC leader slams Centre for rising prices

Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, claiming that it will face Sri Lanka and Afghanistan-like protests by people because of the steady hike in fuel prices in the country.

While the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal is giving money in the hands of women through a scheme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking it away from them by raising cooking gas prices to nearly ₹1,100 per cylinder, he claimed.

Petrol and diesel prices are also rising steadily, he said.

"What happened in Sri Lanka and Afghanisthan, I believe the people of India will create a similar situation against the BJP," Mr. Banerjee said while addressing a public meeting in Dhupguri.

Protestors in crisis-hit Sri Lanka recently stormed into the official residences of the President and Prime Minister though they had left the houses before that. However, why Mr. Banerjee mentioned Afghanistan is not clear.

Mr. Banerjee also said that those north Bengal leaders of the TMC because of whom voters turned away from the party in the last Lok Sabha and assembly elections will not get tickets in the next panchayat polls.

Referring to the demand for a separate State comprising the northern districts of West Bengal by a section of BJP leaders, Mr. Banerjee who is considered no. 2 in the Trinamool Congress asserted that nobody will dare to divide the State till Mamata Banerjee is the Chief Minister.