Hummingbird News Desk
KOLKATA, 7 MARCH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday mounted a scathing attack on Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee at a mega rally in Kolkata, asserting that lotus will bloom in the muck left behind by her government.
Addressing thousands of supporters at the iconic Brigade Parade Ground, the Prime Minister said that the people of Bengal relied on Mamata but she broke their trust.
He said TMC’s “Khela Khatam” (TMC’s game is over) – a take on the TMC’s “Khela Hobe” slogan, as the lotus is blooming in Bengal because TMC has spawned muck in the state.
Flagging off his West Bengal Assembly poll campaign officially, the Prime Minister promised a “Sonar Bangla” (Golden Bengal) if the BJP is voted to power.
“I have come here to make you believe in ‘Asol Poribortan‘, believe in Bengal’s development, in changing Bengal’s situation, in increasing investment and industries in Bengal, and in the reconstruction of Bengal,” he said.
The next 25 years, the PM noted, are very important for development in the state. In 2047, when India will celebrate 100 years of independence, West Bengal will lead the country once again, he promised.
The democratic system had allegedly been destroyed in the state and the BJP, he said, would strengthen it. He also promised to re-establish public faith in government systems, in the police, and the administration.
He kept attacking Miss Banerjee over persistent allegations of nepotism and family rule in the state.
“The people of Bengal had chosen you as ‘Didi‘, but then why did you remain the aunt of a nephew? The people of Bengal are asking only this one question from you,” he asked, hinting at the alleged stranglehold of Abhishek Banerjee, the Chief Minister’s nephew, over matters in the state.
PM Modi then used Trinamul’s favourite motto to point out the increasing instances of violence. “You are well aware of the condition of ‘Maa, Manush, Maati‘. Mothers are being attacked on streets and in their houses. Recently, the cruelty unleashed on an 80-year-old mother has shown their cruel face to the entire country,” he said.
The Prime Minister further said, “Tolabaazi, syndicate, commission cut! You have done so many scams that a ‘Corruption Olympics’ game can be organised. You have played with the hard-earned money of the people and their lives.”
Brigade Parade Grounds, the venue of Modi’s rally in the Maidan area, witnessed an impressive turnout, thanks to a few lakh people who came from the districts in trains and buses with innovative and colourful props. Modi’s plane arrived at Kolkata around 1.30 pm and he flew to the Maidans in a chopper.
While replying to TMC’s ‘opposition’ tag on the BJP leaders, the Prime Minister said, “The opposition says that I work for my friends. We all make friends in places where we grow up. I can feel the difficulties faced by my friends. I will always do so. I am working for my friends in Bengal. I have given my friends in Bengal 70 lakh homes and toilets. People working in the tea gardens are my special friends and for them, the Union budget has allotted ₹1,000 crore.”
Reciting a couple of lines from a Sanskrit scripture, PM Modi said, “When someone gets angry because of excessive affection, the person makes more mistakes and eventually loses everything.”
“Even I am not spared. Sometimes I am called Ravana, sometimes a demon and sometimes a ruffian. Why do you get so angry Didi?” Modi said referring to some of the comments Banerjee made in recent rallies.
“The lotus is blooming because you (Banerjee) deprived the poor, kept youths unemployed. I know Didi for years. This is not the Didi who fought for Bengal. She is now being controlled by others. The remote control is in the hands of someone else,” said PM Modi.
“The whole of Bengal is now saying aar noi anyay (no more injustice, the BJP’s slogan). The entire nation needs to hear this. This is the voice of the Bengalis,” he said.
Indirectly referring to the TMC’s official poll slogan, ‘Bengal wants to its own daughter,’ Modi said, “You are not the daughter of Bengal only. You are the nation’s daughter. When you rode the scooty, everybody prayed that you do not fall. Thank God you did not because if you did, the state where the scooty was made would have become your enemy. However, instead of going to Bhawanipore, your scooty went to Nandigram. I do not want to see anyone getting hurt but what can I do if the scooty has decided to fall in Nandigram?”
Pointing at the crowd at the Brigade Parade Grounds, Modi said, “We will build a Bengal where infiltrators will not find any place. People know what Bengal has lost since Independence. I have come with the determination to announce that whatever has been robbed from here will be returned. The next 25 years are crucial for Bengal. The coming polls will launch the first phase. The next five years is important. In 2047, when India will celebrate its 100th year of Independence, Bengal will once again lead other states as it did in the past.”
