PM Modi’s visit to Bangladesh & speaking on Bengal is model code violation: Mamata Banerjee

Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to influence voters in West Bengal through his visit to Bangladesh on a day Assembly elections started in the state.

“Elections are under way here and he (the PM) has gone to Bangladesh and is speaking on Bengal. It is a violation of the model code of conduct of the election,” Banerjee said at a public rally in Kharagpur. She “reminded” that prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when a Bangladeshi actor attended a Trinamool Congress rally, the BJP spoke to the Bangladesh government and cancelled his visa. “When polls are under way here, you (PM) go to Bangladesh to seek votes from one section of people. Why shouldn’t your visa be cancelled? We will complain to the Election Commission,” she said.

The PM today offered prayers at a temple in Bangladesh’s Orakandi, the birthplace of the Matua community’s spiritual leader Harichand Thakur. Orakandi is the original place of stay for the Hindu Matua community, many of whom shifted to West Bengal and play an important factor in the elections.

During the day, PM Modi addressed the Matuas announcing that his government would upgrade a girls’ school and set up a primary school in the area. Banerjee said, “Sometimes they say Mamata Banerjee has brought in people from Bangladesh illegally, but now he (PM) has gone to Bangladesh to seek votes.”