Kolkata: CM Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday sharpened her campaign rhetoric with a pointed inversion of her 2011 slogan, telling rallies in Amdanga and Haripal: “In 2011, I said ‘bodla noy, bodol chai’ — change, not revenge. This time I say ‘bodol noy, bodla chai’ — revenge, not change. Revenge at the ballot box, revenge for democracy. We will not allow Bengal to be set on fire like Lanka Kando.”Attacking BJP for the scale of central force deployment, she said: “Have you ever heard of a single election where they fight by bringing so much force from Delhi? You have brought armoured war vehicles, held meetings with the military, deployed BSF, CRPF, railways and aviation — forces from every state. Why? Do you want to open fire? Bring your armoured vehicles; I will stand alone.”She added: “Do you need the military to conduct elections in Bengal? Go send them to Manipur — there hasn’t been peace there for three years.”Banerjee also warned serving officers against doing BJP’s bidding. “I heard that they have closed the roads from Kolaghat; bikes are stopped, trains are stopped and roads are blocked.You have forgotten that in the coming days, you will have to work in Bengal. IPS and WBPS officers have their own dignity — maintain your neutrality. Why are you only targeting Trinamool? Why can’t criminal BJP candidates like Rakesh Singh be arrested?” she said, alleging central forces were “chanting BJP Zindabad.“Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, also addressing a rally on Wednesday, said BJP should be given a response that makes it “think 100 times before betraying Bengal again.”Within hours, former Bengal DGP and Trinamool MP Rajeev Kumar, part of a delegation that met CEO Manoj Agarwal, issued a sharp legal warning over what the party called extra-legal arrests.“Over 500 arrests have been made following verbal orders from police observers — a clear violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Every officer who has issued or abetted unlawful arrest orders will be named, chargesheeted and dragged before court. State borders offer no protection, nor does political immunity,” Kumar said.He added that observers had “no authority to issue such orders” and were being seen meeting BJP candidates privately. “We are taking note of every single thing and will drag you to court if you work in an anti-constitutional manner — irrespective of which state you return to after the elections,” he warned.
