Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday entered into a war of words with the former calling her Parivartan Government no better than its Marxist predecessors while the latter reacting in equal measures comparing him with a “seasonal bird” that hums only during the elections and then flies away.
Both were addressing their respective party workers’ meeting at different venues in North Bengal where the elections are scheduled for April 17. Addressing a Congress workers’ rally at Nagrakata in North Bengal, Gandhi said that the Congress had expected a real change after the Trinamool Government took over in Bengal “but they have done nothing since then.”
He said, “We expected that the Parivartan Government would work for the people and bring development in educational, health and other sectors but instead of doing so they have only done the same against which they fought. They have belied the hopes of people.” Reacting rather sharply to Gandhi’s criticism of her Government, the Chief Minister who held a rally hours later at Naxalbari in Darjeeling district equated “some leaders” with seasonal birds like “cuckoos” and said “there are some seasonal birds that come during the polls hum and go away leaving the people to their fates.”