'I don't have the power to convince Mamata Banerjee' - Why Amit Shah said THIS

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has hailed the Supreme Court's verdict on the 2002 Gujarat riots and in an interview with news agency ANI, Shah said that those who levelled "politically motivated" allegations against the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi should apologise for it. In the same interview, Shah also mentioned that it is not possible for him to convince West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Let's find out why Shah said this about Banerjee.

Ever since the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021, BJP has locked horns with TMC on numerous occasions, and more specifically, with the party's chief and firebrand Bengal CM, Banerjee. While the ANI interview was largely focused on the Gujarat riots, the interviewer asked about riot-like situations across India due to the recent Agnipath scheme, which caused damage to a lot of properties. Talking about this, Shah said that it is the responsibility of the state government to maintain law and order in the state. However, when required and if they don't have adequate resources, they can ask for the Centre's assistance. Shah said that the Center can send troops only if the state says so, and in that case, forces are immediately sent. The interviewer then pointed out that Opposition leaders, like Mamata Banerjee, have always claimed that it often gets politically motivated and central forces only take orders from the Centre. To this Shah replied, tongue-in-cheek, "Neither you, nor I have the power to convince Mamata Banerjee." He added that it's everyone's democratic right to express their political opinions.

Meanwhile, Shah also lashed out at Teesta Setalvad after the Supreme Court dismissed the plea challenging clean chit to PM Modi. "I have read the judgement very carefully. The judgement clearly mentions the name of Teesta Setalvad. The NGO that was run being run by her - I don't remember the name of the NGO - had given baseless information about the riots to the police," Amit Shah, in the exclusive interview, told ANI. The apex court on Friday, while rejecting an appeal by Zakia Jafri, wife of Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the violence, said that the appeal was "devoid of merits."

(With inputs from ANI)