'Intolerance, thy name is Mamata Banerjee': BJP chief JP Nadda in Kolkata

Nadda launched the political attack on Banerjee during an address on the first of his two-day visit to the poll-bound state.

Quoting late Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the leader of BJP's predecessor Bharatiya Janata Sangh, Nadda said, "If we look at Mamata Banerjee, we see intolerance. Intolerance, thy name is Mamata. She is the other name of intolerance. The exchange of thoughts and ideologies is the beauty of a democracy."

"West Bengal was known for its tolerance but now we are seeing how intolerance is increasing," he added.

Besides attacking the Trinamool, Nadda has set the BJP's political tone for the upcoming assembly elections claiming the saffron party will win more than 200 of 294 seats.

"We had four per cent votes in 2011. In 2014, we won only two seats but had 18 (17) per cent votes. In 2019, we won 18 seats and our vote percentage shot up to 40 per cent. In the 2021 polls, the BJP will win more than 200 seats to form the government here," the confident BJP chief said.

The BJP, which was merely a political player in the state even in the last assembly elections, made an unprecedented gain in the 2019 General Elections giving a jolt to the Trinamool.

Though the BJP saw a rise in West Bengal politics since 2011, as Nadda claimed, the saffron party's votes dipped to 10 per cent in the 2016 assembly elections after it went up to 17 per cent in the 2014 General Elections.

While the elections are scheduled to be held in April-May next year, both the Trinamool and BJP have almost started their political campaigns, with the leaders of both the parties taking to streets and engaging into mass outreach campaigns.

Besides his address, Nadda on Wednesday held a mass outreach campaign in Banerjee's constituency Bhowanipore and also offered prayers at Kalighat temple.