PTI
BIRPARA, April 7
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had boycotted meetings called by the Centre to discuss the issue of States’ development and failed to bring in any transformation despite her call for “paribartan” (change).
“What kind of Chief Minister is she? Whenever the Centre called a meeting to discuss development of states, Didi boycotted it. Even if it hurt her State. She did not attend those meetings only because Modi convened it. But whenever she visited Delhi, she met Sonia Gandhi and took her blessings,” Mr. Modi said at an election rally in Bipara.
Mr. Modi, who campaigned in northern Bengal said, “She gave the call forparibartan and misled the people. She talked about Ma-Mati-Manush, but there is only maut [death] and money. The Narada sting operation has shown it.”
Mr. Modi slammed Ms. Banerjee also on the recent collapse of a Kolkata flyover, saying instead of beginning immediate relief work and saving people, she had started the blame game. “The first thing she said was to put the blame on the Left for giving the contract of the flyover. But if the flyover was completed, would she have congratulated the Left? [In such an event] she would have taken the credit for the flyover.”
Mr. Modi said when she took over the government it seemed that she would try to set things right in the State after the misrule of the Left. “But she only carried forward the legacy of the Left, and led the State to further ruin.”
Instead of talking about development, both the Trinamool Congress and the Left were engaged in a blame game against each other. “Your future is not safe in the hands of the TMC and the Left,” he said.
Referring to the Saradha chit fund scam, he said, “If Didi tries to save those involved in it, she should be sent back.”
Appealing to the people to give the BJP a chance, he said wherever the BJP was in power there is development.
Modi’s remarks not befitting of PM: Trinamool
Kolkata: Strongly reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s barbs against it while campaigning for the assembly polls, West Bengals’ ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday said the remarks were unbecoming of a prime minister.
Addressing successive rallies in state, Modi castigated the Trinamool over a host of issues and said the TMC stands for “Terror”, “Maut” (death) and “Corruption”.
He also accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “playing politics over the dead” while referring to the March 31 flyover collapse in the city in which 26 people were killed.
“The comments made by the prime minister about the Trinamool Congress, making an abbreviation based on wild allegations using the initial of the name of our political party was in very poor taste to say the least.
“These are not words befitting the PM of India, they bring disrepute to this high office,” said Trinamool spokesperson Derek O’Brien.
Posting a video statement on his official Facebook page, the Rajya Sabha member also took a jibe over Modi’s charges of terror against the Trinamool.
“Mr. PM, may be, we need to remind you that you are the prime minister of this great nation and all Indians, please do not reduce yourself to a Shakha Pramukh.
“We expect you, by now, to grow with your job. The Trinamool is far from being a corrupt party. We don’t run advertisement campaigns running into billions of unaccounted dollars, nor do we play politics over a horrific tragedy like the flyover collapse,” said O’Brien.
“As for terror, we are all for combating terror, but in doing this please don’t raise unnecessary communal temperatures. But then you, Mr. Shakha Pramukh, you would know a thing about terror given your record in 2002,” added O’Brien in an obvious reference to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
