A day after lambasting the chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her strong opposition to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC), J P Nadda, BJP working president, made yet another scathing attack on her today. “With deterioration of law and order situation in Bengal, a jungleraj is going on in the state,” Nadda said after attending tarpan, Hindu rituals to offer holy water paying homage to the ancestors, at Bagbazar Ghat in the northern part of the city this morning.

“Democracy is being throttled to death under Mamata Banerjee’s rule in Bengal. More than 80 BJP workers were killed in different political clashes in the state. The police are playing the role of silent spectators instead of taking action,” he alleged. “She has nothing to give to the people here in the state. Families of the murdered BJP workers have confided in us saying that the police are not registering complaints. People involved in these murders are moving about freely,” the BJP working president said.

Earlier in the day, Nadda garlanded the statue of Vidyasagar at College Square and then attended rituals at Bagbazar Ghat where Dilip Ghosh, state BJP president, was also present. Families of the 80 deceased party workers paid homage to their ancestors during tarpan. Ahead of the Durga puja festival, the BJP leadership has decided to intensify its polit- ical campaign across the state utilising the programme. Today’s programme was organised by the BJP keeping eyes on the majority community vote banks ahead of elections mainly in municipal bodies across the state scheduled next year, some political analysts felt.

While addressing a seminar on the abrogation of Article 370 in the city on Friday, Nadda said, “Time is up for her government in Bengal. Mamata Banerjee is so busy in appeasement politics that national interest has taken a back seat for her.” “The writing on the wall is clear. The time of her government is over. It’s only a matter of time before BJP comes to power in Bengal,” he said. He raised the question, “Is vote bank politics bigger than national interest for her? She should answer why her party opposed the move to integrate the country.” On 1 October, Union home minister Amit Shah is scheduled to attend a rally at Netaji Indoor Stadium where he will speak on the NRC, among other topics.