Kolkata, 8 Oct

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday sharpened her attack against Union Home Minister Amit Shah by alleging that the BJP leader's actions were like those of an "acting Prime Minister".

Speaking to reporters outside the Kolkata airport after her return from flood-ravaged north Bengal, Banerjee said she wanted to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to repose too much faith in Shah, who "may one day become his Mir Zafar".

She was referring to the 18th-century military general of Bengal who betrayed Nawab Siraj ud Daulah in the Battle of Plassey and later became the monarch with the help of the British.

The TMC supremo accused the BJP top brass of manipulating the Election Commission into conducting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound states.

She said, "Their leader holds a meeting and comes here to say that he will delete several lakh names from the voters' list of Bengal. Tell me, we are currently reeling under natural calamities, heavy rains, celebrating festivals and so on. Can the SIR exercise be completed within a fortnight and can fresh names be uploaded in that period under the current circumstances?"

Banerjee questioned whether the ECI should act at the behest of the BJP party, or should it act in the interest of democratic rights and civil rights of the people?

"All this is a game played by Amit Shah. He is behaving like he is the acting Prime Minister of this country. But the PM is aware of everything, I am sorry to say," the TMC chief alleged.

"We can request the Prime Minister not to trust Amit Shah always. One day, he will turn out to be your biggest Mir Zafar. Be alert while you have the time because morning shows the day," she said.

Charging the BJP with "destroying this country", Banerjee warned the party of the possibility of not staying in power forever.

"I have seen many governments in my life, but I never came across this kind of arrogant and dictatorial regime," she claimed.