The final hours of campaigning for the first phase of the Assembly elections in West Bengal on Tuesday heated up, with party leaders targeting rivals, even resorting to name-calling.Campaigning in Chandipur, which will vote on April 23 along with 152 constituencies in the first phase, senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah targeted TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee over former party MLA’s plan to construct a Babri-like mosque in Murshidabad and said, “Mamata Didi ko dekho, apne chele Humayun Kabir se Bengal mein Babri Masjid banana chahti hai. Ei Didi, aankh khol, kaan khol kar sunlo. Ye Bengal Bharat mein hai. Koi Kabir Fabir yahan par Babri Masjid nahin banane denge hum (Look at Mamata Didi. She wants to get Babri Masjid constructed in Bengal by her disciple Humayun Kabir. Didi listen with your ears and eyes open. Bengal is in India, and we will not let any Kabir or Fabir build a Babri mosque in Bengal).”He also accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of shielding “infiltrators”.The TMC hit back with party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee accusing the Union Home Minister of “reducing a respected leader to a taunt”.Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Didi O Didi” remark in the 2021 Assembly elections, Abhishek, in a post on X, wrote, “The Prime Minister and the Home Minister speak endlessly about Nari Shakti. They posture on women’s empowerment and perform outrage for the cameras. But their conduct tells a different story. The Prime Minister publicly mocks a three-time elected woman Chief Minister with “Didi O Didi,” delivered with visible condescension. The Home Minister echoes it with “Ei Didi,” reducing a respected leader to a taunt.Earlier, Abhishek had called Shah a goon and challenged him to stay in West Bengal after May 4, when the election results would be declared. “Amit Shah is threatening the people of Bengal, saying they should remain inside their houses on the 23rd (April 23 polling day), otherwise they will be taught a lesson. I want to challenge Amit Shah—if he has the guts, he should stay in Bengal after the 4th of May, and the people will teach him a lesson.”On the last day of the campaigning, Shah addressed four rallies – from Kurseong in Darjeeling Hills in the north to Kulti, Salboni, and Chandipur in the south.Story continues below this adIn Kurseong, he promised that the BJP government will resolve the “Gorkha issues”. “Within six months of the BJP forming the government in West Bengal, every Gorkha will have a smile on his face. We will find such a solution to the Gorkha issue that Gorkhas can live in peace,” he said, without saying “Gorkhaland” or “statehood”.“Mamata Didi, we are not dependent on you for a solution to the Gorkha issue. We have appointed an interlocutor who is preparing a report by engaging with Gorkha organisations here and officials of the West Bengal government,” he added.In other rallies, he targeted the TMC government over the issue of women’s safety and spoke about the rape and murder of a medical student at RG Kar Hospital. “This election is the election is not just for choosing if MLAs but to protect our mothers and daughters. In Mamata’s raj (rule), there have been atrocities on women – be it Sandeshkhali, Durgapur, south Kolkata law college, RG Kar Medical college… Each and every criminal will be identified and put behind bars,” Shah said.Giving a stern warning to TMC, Shah said, “I warn all Mamata’s goons. Don’t dare touch any voter otherwise, after May 4th, you will be behind bars. I urge all the people. Don’t be afraid on the 23rd. Come and cast your vote.”Story continues below this adIn Kolkata, BJP MPs Anurag Thakur and Harsh Vardhan Shringla addressed a press conference where they labelled the election as “Mamata vs Janata” (people). He said, “The politics of appeasement, corruption, and nepotism practised by the TMC over the past 15 years will reflect in the results of this election… TMC stands for Terror, Money Laundering, and Cut Money.”Meanwhile, campaigning for the TMC in Haldia, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee slammed Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and his father Sisir Adhikari, who were earlier associated with the TMC. Referring to the Nandigram agitation against land acquisition, Mamata said, “The father-son duo did not step out for 10 days. I was fighting alone. When petrol bombs were hurled at me, they were not there. They were not there when bullets were being fired at Nandigram.”Suvendu Adhikari is contesting the election from Nandigram.Warning the BJP, she said, “Be very careful! You yourself are involved in a lot of scams. Who gets the cut money from the trucks that pass through Haldia? Who gets the cut from the wages of the labourers? Who extorts money from the companies here? All of these misdeeds are committed by one person. He keeps half the money with himself and gives the rest to another leader outside the state. I know everything… They take cut money from the cargo ships as well… It must be investigated how much money is illegally siphoned from Haldia.”She also slammed the BJP over its promise of giving cash doles to women on the lines of the TMC government’s Lakshmir Bhandar scheme.Story continues below this ad“The BJP should be ashamed of distributing forms now when the election has already been declared. Couldn’t they have done it in the budget, as we did for Laxmir Bhandar? These are all illegal. They are taking your bank account number. As they did in Bihar, they might freeze your account and loot everything you have. We provide the benefit of Laxmir Bhandar throughout the year. We work silently,” Mamata said.She also accused probe agencies – ED, CBI, I-T, and NIA – of working like puppets for the Central government.In Barjora, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee challenged BJP leaders to bring out a report card of 12 year’s o Modi government at the Centre. “Those who speak of double-engine governments, I challenge any BJP leader or cadre to come up with the report card of the Modi government’s 12 years. What have they done for Barjora? They do politics of religion, but our politics is based on work… If they win, your rights will be taken away. If they win, Barjora’s money will go to Gujarat, and if TMC wins, Bankura’s money will be used for its own development.”Accusing the BJP of “humiliating” Bengalis, he alleged, “They do not understand our language, and mock us for our food habits. From the stage where they give speeches, they cannot read the words written there. Those who call us Bangladeshi, mock us for eating fish, and have forced us to stand in queues for multiple reasons, from SIR to lockdown to demonetisation, must be answered. In the coming days, stand in the same queue and answer them through your votes. The way they have humiliated Bengalis in the last 5 years, answer them in this election.”