Can anybody say Mamata is of sound mind? asks Dilip Ghosh  

Questioning whether West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is of "sound mind", BJP state unit president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday said her statement after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi here last week showed she had reached the "height of frustration".

"When she is called to Delhi, she doesn't go. She says she met the Prime Minister here (on Saturday) to demand funds for Bengal and asked him to scrap the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

"Well, if anybody comes to our house, we offer him tea. Do we ask for money, or ask him to change a law? Now, can anybody say she is of sound mind? She has reached the height of frustration," Ghosh said while addressing party functionaries after his unanimous re-election to the party post.

Ghosh had earlier faced flak for his statement that anti-CAA protesters were "shot like dogs" in certain BJP-ruled states.

Banerjee, who held a 15-minute meeting with Modi here during his two-day trip to the state amidst swirling protests against the CAA, later claimed that she had urged him to reconsider and withdraw the contentious legislation along with any proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC). She said she also had sought Rs 38,000 crore in dues for the state from the Centre.

Lashing out against Banerjee, Ghosh referred to the Trinamool Congress chief hosting a grand rally of anti-BJP political leaders at the Brigade Parade Ground here on January 19, 2019.

"Where are those stalwarts who had attended that meeting? (Then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister) Chandrababu Naidu was dreaming of becoming the leader of whole of India. Where is he now? Where are (BSP's) Mayawati, and Akhilesh Yadav (of Samajwadi Party)?

"And the person who hosted them now cannot decide whether she should go to Delhi or stay put in Kolkata. Or, whether she should meet CPI-M leaders or those from the Congress. Those who go against the public interest in politics face such situations," the BJP leader said.

Banerjee had opted out of Monday's meeting of anti-BJP parties in Delhi, in protest against what she called the "violence unleashed by the Congress and the Left parties in the state during last Wednesday's general strike".

Ghosh took a swipe at the Left parties led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist, pointing out that there was a time in the past when the Left had over 60 MPs.

"They even had 34 Lok Sabha members from Bengal. But now, they don't even have a single member from our state. In Parliament, when Left leaders stand up to speak, only then do we realise that a handful of them are still there.

"They are on the verge of extinction. They have now fielded some youngsters and are trying to remain afloat by using the media. Now, their leader is Kanhaiya Kumar. A greenhorn like (JNU Students Union leader) Aishee Ghosh is now an all-India leader of the CPI-M!" said the BJP leader.

"I hear she is coming to address a seminar in Kolkata. And state Congress chief Somen Mitra says he will go to listen to her speech. This is the state of the CPI-M and the Congress. And then they hope to bring about political change in Bengal," said Ghosh.-IANS