Bengal on Thursday resembled a veritable war zone with all parties coming out all guns blazing against each other. Foremost among those who spit fire were Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who lodged a vitriolic attack on BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi who took on Banerjee for giving Bengal a “scam-tainted goonda raj.”
Banerjee resorted to heavy shelling on Modi calling him a “Danga Babu (provoker of riots) who looks at the people of other States with contempt.” Addressing electoral rallies at Budge Budge in South 24 Parganas and Titagarh at North 24 Parganas Banerjee told her audience as to how Modi had been engineering division in the Bengali society by raising issues of Biharis, refugees, Matuas in order to garner votes.
Referring to Modi’s earlier speech where he referred to Banerjee’s calling the Bihari population as guests of Bengal, the Trinamool supremo said, “He should first answer whether his Government has declared holidays on Chhath (the most important festival in Bihar). Not only my colleagues and I celebrate Chhath but I have also declared a holiday on Chhath,” she said enquiring “how many Bengali, Bihari, UP wallah MlAs doIJ Modi babu have in GujaratIJ Here in Bengal we have MlAs, MPs and Ministers from all the sections of people: like Biharis, Sikhs, Muslims, Marwaris, and even Gujarati community.”
Those “who look at the people of other States with contempt and even drive them out from their States have no right to raise such issues against others,” she thundered at the meetings.
Modi in his earlier meetings in Bengal alleged that the people of other States do not get proper recognition in Mamata’s State and also blamed her for failing to provide the 50-lakh strong Matua community (Bangladeshi refugees) the citizenship of India on one hand and rolling out the red carpet for the Bangla infiltrators in order to bake her electoral bread on the other.
On Modi’s allegation that Banerjee was going back on her 2005 stand on infiltrators, she said she had not spoken on infiltrators but on the illegal ration cards. “After coming to power we found out 88 lakh illegal ration cards and proceeded to cancel them,” she said wondering “how can a Danga Babu dub all those who came from Bangladesh as infiltratorsIJ He has no idea of the Indira-Mujib pact. Who is he to poke his nose hereIJ What audacity he has got to do soIJ I will not take this lying down and go to any extent to protest against this.”
While Banerjee fired volleys of shots at Modi she took similar firing from Rahul Gandhi who at a meeting at Debra in Ghatal constituency said, “while we were a party to the Poribartan in Bengal now we can see what kind of poribartan has come here in Bengal” alleging in the past three years the Trinamool Government has demolished industries and eaten away job opportunities.
“The Marxist ruined Bengal and now the Trinamool Congress is finishing it. There is no industry, no job. Everywhere there are made-in-China products. One wonders whether the Hawai Chappals worn by Didi are also made in China,” he said refuting Banerjee’s claims of Central neglect.
“We have been sending money but they cannot utilise it. We sent `26,000 crore and a large part of it went unutilised.” In the field of MNREGA while the States like Assam gave 90 days’ job this Government could not even manage 35 days he said blaming Banerjee for given the State a scam-tainted goonda raj.
“Instead of development you have got only scams and violence. From Saradha scam to the one involving Teachers Eligibility Test Bengal has become a hot bed of scams,” he said while campaigning for party candidate and MlA Manas Bhunia.