Hours after the Election Commission served a show-cause notice on Mamata Banerjee for making alleged communal statements, a defiant Bengal Chief Minister on Thursday said she would not be intimidated by such notices … “let them file tens of such letters on me.”

Mamata, who was addressing a rally at Domjur in Howrah, accused the Election Commission of playing a partisan role, saying, “Why don’t they serve notices on Narendra Modi, who makes provocative Hindu-Muslim statements every day? Why don’t they send letters to the BJP leaders in Nandigram who openly call the local Muslim people Pakistanis in order to divide the electorate? Let them sent 10 notices to me. I don’t care. My answer to them will remain the same.”

Calling upon the people to unite, she said, “I am asking the people to unite so that there is no division of votes among Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians… I ask everyone not to give a single vote to the BJP.”

The Commission had earlier issued a notice on Mamata asking her to reply within 48 hours as to why in a rally on April 3 she asked the Muslims to unite asking them not to let their votes get split. She had also allegedly told in a rally that “if the BJP takes all the Hindu votes and CPI(M)-Congress-ISF all the Muslim votes then what will I get?”

The BJP had also complained to the Commission against Mamata’s provocative speeches against the Central forces.

The EC is yet to take a decision on that. Mamata had on Tuesday said told the TMC supporters from a rally to “gherao the Central forces if they try to stop you from voting.”

She said, “There are reports that the CPF is stopping out voters from voting and influencing the rest of the people to vote for the BJP…this they are doing at the instance of Home Minister Amit Shah… But if they stop you from voting I ask the women to gherao the CPF and the men to go and cast their votes… don’t let you votes go waste.”

On Thursday too she asked the voters to “register FIR against the Central forces if they intimidate you”.

Meanwhile, 16 people were arrested in connection with Wednesday’s attack on Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh’s convoy at Sitalkuchi in Coochbehar district of North Bengal. Ghosh got minor injuries and his vehicle was shattered when about a hundred strong TMC men returning from the Chief Minister’s rally allegedly attacked the BJP leaders including him with bombs, rods and brickbats, Ghosh had earlier complained.