West Bengal today witnessed three high voltage public rallies to kick-start the Lok Sabha polls in the state: two of these were addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Siliguri and Kolkata and the third by chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Cooch Behar’s Dinhata.
Modi went on an all-out attack on Banerjee, mentioning surgical and air strikes, and anti-satellite missile to showcase India’s “progress” and pointed out that the Bengal CM had called it “drama”.
He also attacked the Congress, saying that promises made in the party’s manifesto would strengthen the hands of the enemy, and make the country’s security forces vulnerable. “The Congress has always bowed down before terrorism for the sake of votebank politics,” Modi said. In both his meetings in Siliguri and Kolkata, the thrust of Modi’s attack and arguments were similar. He added that Bengal had always showed the way to the country, and that people in the state would vote for the Bharatiya Janta Party.
Mamata Banerjee – who had re-scheduled her April 4 meeting in north Bengal by a day to literally “have the last word” – today challenged the PM from the stage of her public meeting in Dinhata. She said that Bengal would contribute to changing the government in Delhi this time. She said she didn’t require PM Modi’s certificate on “nationalism”. She also seemed to question the Election Commission’s silence on Narendra Modi’s repeated mention of the army and jawans in his election rallies where the EC has already warned that armed forces cannot be used for election campaigns.
Banerjee challenged Modi to face her in a public meeting. “He can ask me whatever he wants,” she said. The Bengal CM said that demonetisation had made the ruling party so rich that they were spending Rs 100-200 crore per meeting. “We have never heard of hangers in the Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata,” she added. The BJP had arranged for hangers in the ground as a protective shield from the sun for those who had come to attend the meeting.
Banerjee said that if the BJP were voted to power again, they would change the Constitution and not conduct elections in future. However, she called PM Modi as “Mr Expiry PM” with a twinkle in her eyes, to imply that his tenure as the Prime Minister was well over.
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