Days before the much-awaited Bengal polls commence, West Bengal Agriculture Minister Tapan Dasgupta stoked a controversy by threatening voters that they would lose water and electricity if they did not vote for him in the elections.
As per a report by India Today, the TMC candidate from the Saptagram constituency was addressing a public meeting in Hooghly on Saturday where he was reported telling the voters that the areas which will not vote for him will not be receiving water and electricity.
Calling it a simple bargain, the minister was heard saying that those areas which will not vote for him will be devoid of the privileges of a water supply and electricity. He further went on to say that those voters can reach out to BJP to avail of these services.
Considering the long-standing history of violence associated with the regional party, this is not the first time that a minister had threatened voters of dire consequences if not voted to power.
TMC MLA Hamidul Rahman was caught on camera threatening voters in West Bengal ahead of the assembly election.
“Traitors will be dealt with after the election,” Hamidul Rahman said at a public meeting in Dinajpur reported India today.
Rahman had also threatened that those who betray the party by not voting for it will be labelled as traitors and dealt with post the elections.
Reacting to Hamiduy Rahman’s comments, BJP’s Amit Malviya had commented that Mamata Banerjee’s men are playing with fire.
Tapan Dasgupta became the MLA of Saptagram in 2011 by defeating the Left Front. In the 2016 Bengal polls, he had won the Saptagram seat. Now in the 2021 elections too the minister will be contesting from this seat.
