Mamata Banerjee demands 'dhokla treat' from Amit Shah after calling out 'miscalculations'

Slamming ex-BJP chief Amit Shah for "deliberately trying to project a dismal and gloomy picture" of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday contended that the state has fared well on all development indices. Her Trinamool Congress termed Shah as 'king of miscalculations' while sharing a video of the leader wherein he had claimed that BJP will win Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and Delhi. In a 2 minutes 20 seconds video, the TMC added the statement by Shah wherein he has claimed that BJP will win 200 seats in West Bengal, and said that "Mota Bhai" should leave Bengal to the Bengali people and stop his interference.

Meanwhile, CM Mamata in her press meet also quipped that Amit Shah owes her a "Dhokla treat" as his accusations against West Bengal and Mamata's administration are false. "I have no objection with the truth, but if there is no truth to the criticism, I will challenge it. Amit Shahji owes me a Dhokla treat along with other Gujarati food, I love them." 

READ | West Bengal Ahead Of Other States On All Development Indices, Says CM Mamata

Mamata's rebuttal with stats

Earlier on Tuesday, issuing a point-by-point rebuttal to assertions made by Shah against her dispensation during his visit to Bengal last week, Banerjee cited NCRB data to state that political killings and other crimes have decreased in the last ten years under the TMC rule.

"When the home minister of the country says something, it should be backed by data, facts and figures. Bengal is ahead of other states on all development indices. But Amit Shah ji deliberately tried to depict a gloomy and dismal picture of the state. I was challenged... here is my reply. Kolkata has twice been accorded the 'safest city' tag in the country," Banerjee said at a press meet. "According to NCRB data, political killings, other incidents of crime and rape cases have decreased during the TMC rule. BJP leaders, while pointing fingers at others, should also speak up against the Hathras rape-murder incident in Uttar Pradesh," Banerjee added.

Earlier, setting a target for the BJP in the upcoming West Bengal assembly polls, Shah, said that the saffron party will win over 200 seats in the next elections, forming its first government in the Eastern state. He said that BJP had already achieved its tally of 22 seats in the past election. "We lost 4-5 seats by a mere 4000-5000 votes. Otherwise, with your hard work, we attained our aim of 22 seats. But today I predict, we will win over 200 seats in Bengal. Whoever wants to laugh, let them. We will win over 200 seats," said Amit Shah at a rally in Bankura, West Bengal. Meanwhile, Prashant Kishor who is the poll strategist for TMC, has dared BJP leaders to quit if they do not win 200 seats.

READ | Amit Shah Declares 'BJP Will Win 200+ Seats' In 2021 Bengal Polls, Rising From 16 Seats

West Bengal polls 

West Bengal assembly with 294 seats will go to polls in April-May 2021, Trinamool holds 222 seats. However, BJP has made major inroads in the state in the Lok Sabha elections winning 18 seats, and establishing itself as the major Opposition force in the state. Recently TMC trumped BJP in all 3 bypolls but the BJP is using its booth-level strategy, has placed its top leaders including Amit Shah and JP Nadda in the state for winning the upcoming elections.

READ | Prashant Kishor Dares BJP Over Bengal Polls; States Number Below Which Netas Should Quit