West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asserted on Monday that she would continue her fight against the BJP "as long as her heartbeats and vocal cords function".

Launching a scathing attack on the Centre over the rise in fuel prices and disinvestment of public sector units, Banerjee said, "Their prime minister cannot run the country, he is totally incompetent." She further urged people not to cast their votes in favour of the Congress and the CPI(M), claiming that the two parties and the BJP are "all brothers-in-arms".

Meanwhile, Union Minister Amit Shah made light of the injury Banerjee suffered during the alleged attack blamed on the BJP by the state's ruling party.

“Mamata Ji has a leg injury, it's not known how she got it. TMC calls it a conspiracy, but EC says it was an accident. Didi, you're roaming around in a wheelchair, concerned about your leg, but not the pain of mothers of my 130 workers who were killed,” said Shah.

In another interesting development, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has sought rejection of the nomination of the West Bengal Chief Minister for not declaring six criminal cases against her while filing her papers.

In his complaint to the Election Commission, Adhikari, a former confidante of Banerjee, claimed she suppressed the information about five cases filed against her in Assam and another lodged by the CBI in West Bengal.

Elections in Bengal, poised to be a stiff contest between the TMC and the BJP, will be held in eight phases, beginning with polling for 30 seats on March 27. Votes will be counted on May 2.

(With inputs from PTI)

(Edited by : Aditi Gautam)

First Published:Mar 15, 2021 9:13 PM IST