West Bengal’s chief minister and the Trinamool Congress Party’s chief Mamata Banerjee was under the attack of Ambedkarites on the internet as she said that she does not think Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is that bad. Mamata Banerjee made this statement while addressing a press conference in Nabanna on 31st August 2022.
In a short part of this press conference that went viral as a video clip, Mamata Banerjee said, “RSS was not that bad. I don’t believe it is so bad. Even now there are good people in RSS who don’t support BJP. One day they will break their silence.”
She said this while replying to a question on ED raids on TV channels close to TMC. In August, ED raided the offices and residences of Kaustav Roy, the CEO of Kolkata TV. Saying that Kaustav Roy is a brave person who does not indulge in politics, she said that there are still good journalists in media houses. Mamata Banerjee alleged that BJP had put one person in every media house, and the media houses are forced to follow the party’s dictates. ‘That person tells what to report in the morning, and media houses follow that’, she alleged.
Mamata Banerjee also attacked the media for running stories based on sources, and said she can also release a video on who went for foreign trips using chit fund money.
Mamata Banerjee who was a minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government turned out to be a target of Ambedkarites who attacked her for her apparent soft-corner towards RSS. A Twitter user Jaimine tweeted quoting Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, “In my judgment, it is useless to make a distinction between the secular Brahmins and priestly Brahmins. Both are kith and kin. They are two arms of the same body, and one is bound to fight for the existence of the other. – Dr. Ambedkar”
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted, “In 2003 too Mamata had called RSS “patriots”. In turn RSS had called her “Durga”. RSS wants Hindu Rashtra. Its history is full of anti-Muslim hate crimes. She’d defended the BJP govt in Parliament after the Gujarat pogrom. I Hope TMC’s “Muslim faces” praise her for her honesty & consistency.”
Another Twitter user Thaiyaan wrote, “The brahmin woman, Banerjee, gives a certificate to a terrorist organization run by brahmin men.”
Amit Dake tweeted, “Cause she is Brah**min & they r the core members of RSS.”
The full video of the press conference can be viewed in the video below. She made the comments on the RSS towards the end.