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Journalism of Courage
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday launched an attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying Modi does not do any homework about Indian states, while the party was spreading lies.
“The Prime Minister does not do any homework and has no knowledge about the ground realities in different states. On the other hand, the BJP is misusing social media to spread lies about Bengal. They often project incidences in Uttar Pradesh or Bangladesh, as incidences in Bengal. BJP is a party that always resort to falsehood… the party is full of liars,” she said at a rally in Habibpur in Nadia district of Bengal.
She also slammed special poll observer for the state, Ajay V Nayak, for comparing the situation in Bengal with that in Bihar 10 years ago. Nayak made the comments on Saturday.
Speaking at another public really at Gayeshpur in Nadia, the Chief Minister said the central government was deliberately sending select officers from Delhi to Bengal to work on the behest of BJP.
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“They are unnecessarily transferring officers of the state. But remember these officers will not vote. Ultimately, people will vote,” she said.
Banerjee said that in 2016, assembly elections were held with deployment of central forces in all the booths, but that did not deter her party from registering a resounding victory.
Alleging that Modi’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ addresses were full of falsehood, the CM said that he spoke the language of the RSS on radio over the last five years.
“The prime minister’s position has a stature, I have never seen a person stoop so low,” she said, addressing two election rallies in Nadia district.
Claiming that lakhs of migrant labourers lost their jobs due to demonetisation, she said, “You had done notebandi, people will do votebandi.”
She alleged that labourers from Bengal were killed and subjected to violence in the then BJP-ruled Rajasthan and other places, leading to their mass return out of fear of persecution.
Banerjee accused the Modi government of depriving West Bengal in the last five years. “Every day, he is resorting to lies. They are seasonal birds, who come during elections only and vanish after the polls,” she said.
Asserting that she faced several vilification bids throughout her political career, the CM said, “I don’t care if someone calls me a thief”.
Banerjee added that she has written 87 books and a number of songs, royalties from which are enough for her sustenance.
Neither the BJP nor the Congress will win the general elections. Instead, friendly regional parties will form the government at the Centre, she said.
“The BJP, the Congress and the CPI(M), who are all brothers in arms, will become mere signboards… after the elections,” Banerjee said.
At Gayeshpur, she said that the difficulty in getting 1,000 acres was creating hurdles to set up an airport in Nadia district. “We are looking for alternative land,” she said. —With PTI
