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Asking whether she announced the solatium because the two belonged to Muslim community, it also sought to know if she had shown similar gesture to the families of ‘hundreds’ of victims of political violence in her state.
State BJP General Secretary Shobha Karandlaje also alleged there was no law and order in Kerala as it targeted the Pinarayi Vijayan government there for the alleged “attack” on Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s car during his personal visit to the neighboring state earlier this week.
Addressing a protest rally in Kolkatta against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on Thursday, Banerjee accused the BJP of not keeping its promises and referred to Yediyurappa’s remark about putting on hold compensation to families of the two people killed in police firing during anti-CAA protests in Mangaluru on December 19.
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Citing the inclusion of the names of the two in an FIR filed in connection with the Mangaluru violence, Yediyurappa on Wednesday said his government had put on hold its earlier decision to give Rs 10 lakh each relief to the kin of Naushin (23) and Jalil Kudroli (49) who were killed in police firing.
In a sharp reaction to the TMC supremo’s announcement, Karandlaje said hundreds of political workers had died in various protests in West Bengal and asked whether Banerjee had given compensation to their families.
“For how many of them have you given compensation? Cast and religions are being considered in giving compensation. Is your compensation (in Mangaluru) because those killed here are Muslims?” she asked.
Speaking to reporters here, she said, “What you (Mamata/TMC) have to do with the protests that happened in Karnataka. Protests have taken place in your state too, just to woo a community, to create polarisation in the country, you are doing such things,” she alleged.
Karandlaje, a member of Parliament, maintained that the state government has only put on hold the compensation that they had to get legally and not cancelled it, and once truth was out it will be given if “they (the two) are innocent”.
Rejecting criticism against the state government of “u-turn” regarding the compensation, she said initially compensation was announced but it had been put on hold after it emerged through video footage that the Mangaluru violence was a “systematic conspiracy and intentional”.
“We want to ensure whether the dead are innocent, or they were among those who wanted to cause disturbance and destroy public property,” she added.
Flaying the LDF government for the protests during Yediyurappa’s visit to Kerala, Karadlaje said there was no law and order in the neighbouring state.
“When Yediyurappa visited Pinarayi Vijayan’s own district (Kannur), his car was attacked, we don’t know why police halted the pilot vehicles. We don’t know what their intention was,” she said.
Pointing out that similar protests were witnessed against Yediyurappa in Thiruvananthapuram, Karandlaje said police should have made proper security arrangements in Kannur.
Workers of pro-CPI(M) Student Federation of India and the Democratic Federation of India had waved black flags, raised slogans and attempted to stop the car of the Karnataka Chief Minister at Pazhayangadi in Kannur during his visit to temples in Kerala on Tuesday.
They activists were protesting the “illegal” detention of Kerala journalists in Mangaluru last week while covering the death of two people in police firing in Mangaluru.