Mamata raises doubts over timing of Pulwama attack, accuses Modi govt of starting 'shadow war' before LS polls

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday fired a fresh salvo at the Narendra Modi government after raising doubts over the timing of the Pulwama terror attack ahead of the 2019 General Election, ANI reported. While addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Mamata said: “I have doubts why the Pulwama attacks happened right before the elections.”

#NewsAlert -- Mamata Banerjee's (@MamataOfficial) big charge on Pulwama attacks | @Sougata_Mukh with more details #PulwamaTerrorAttack #IndiaWithMartyrs pic.twitter.com/LxBmddWC39

— News18 (@CNNnews18) February 18, 2019

In a veiled attack on Modi government, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said “Why the deadly attack happened right before the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections 2019. It is an attempt to create communal tensions across the country.” [caption id=“attachment_6027521” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Reuters[/caption] Mamata accused the Centre of not doing anything to stop Pakistanis from carrying out these attacks all these years and has thought of a “shadow war” only when the elections are near. CNN-News18 quoted Mamata as asking, “Why did the Centre not do anything to stop Pakistanis in carrying out these attacks all these years? Only when an election is knocking at the door, you thought of starting a shadow war.” According to ANI, she also alleged that the government had information from intelligence agencies on 8 February about such attacks taking place before elections. Interestingly, Mamata’s remarks come after she led a candlelight march to protest the Pulwama attack on Saturday in Kolkata and had said that country stands by its brave jawans. Condemning the attack, she said: “The country stands united. We are one and we unitedly stand by our brave jawans. Terrorists are terrorists. They have no religion, no caste.” On 14 February, in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and many injured when a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. With inputs from PTI