'Mamata Belongs to Family of Demons': BJP MP Slams Bengal CM for Jailing Those Who Chant 'Jai Shri Ram'

New Delhi: BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj on Sunday attacked West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her recent criticism against the use of religious slogan 'Jai Shri Ram', saying that she "belongs to the family of demon king Hiranyakashyap".

"As we talk of West Bengal, I remember the demon king Hiranyakashyap who had put his son behind bars and tortured him for saying 'Jai Shri Ram'. This is being repeated in Bengal and it seems that Mamata Banerjee belongs to the family of demon king Hiranyakashyap as she puts all those behind bars who say 'Jai Shri Ram'," said the BJP lawmaker.

"Those chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' are being sent to jail. She gets irritated, takes to the street and stages protests, and conspires against those who say 'Jai Shri Ram'," he said.

The Trinamool Congress supremo, for the second time on May 30, had lost her cool and slammed a group of youth shouting 'Jai Shri Ram' in front of her convoy on the way to Naihati in North 24 Parganas district. She had issued them a verbal warning.

The incident saw a highlight on Banerjee's social media when she took to Facebook to criticise the BJP and its leaders for using 'Jai Shri Ram' as a political slogan for their party. She said that using the slogans was a "deliberate attempt to sell hatred ideology through vandalism and violence".

“BJP is using religious slogan Jai Sri Ram as their party slogan in a misconceived manner by way of mixing religion with politics. We do not respect this forcible enforcement of political slogans on others in the name of so-called RSS which Bengal never accepted," she wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

On Saturday, following news of Banerjee lashing out at the youth, the BJP said it would send to her 10 lakh postcards with 'Jai Shri Ram' written on them.

Earlier this month, a video showed Mamata getting angry when some men chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' at her motorcade in West Midnapore district.

In the just-concluded election, the BJP emerged as a political force in Bengal and won 18 out of the total 42 seats. Since then, several leaders of the Trinamool Congress have switched over to the saffron party.