On a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee oversaw the historic land Boundary Agreement being signed between India and Bangladesh, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi fired volleys of salvo against the two leaders on their ‘friendship’ from this side of the border.
Wondering as to “what interests bring these two leaders together”, Rahul said, “Mamatadi turned down the offer of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to tour with him to Bangladesh but now she has no problem in going with Modiji to that country.” He was addressing a party meeting at Netaji Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.
“Mamata Banerjee had then cited her ekla chalo policy to avoid the Bangladesh tour, but today she has no problem in accompanying Modiji,” he added. Ridiculing Banerjee’s change of stance, Rahul said, “Today Mamataji’s stance says hum saath saath challenge (we will walk together). Why is this happeningIJ What is the friendship aboutIJ You must be knowing the reason.”
launching a blistering attack on Modi over the land Bill issue, Rahul said while the UPA Government had honoured the Nandigram movement by bringing a Bill that was sympathetic towards the farmers “this Government is trying to introduce a law by dint of which they will grab all the prime lands and pass them over to their industrialist friends.”
Attacking the Prime Minister for “failing to provide jobs”, he asked “Modji had promised jobs to the people but has he been able to give jobsIJ” On the one-rank-one-pension issue he said “the Prime Minister had promised to implement one rank one pension but he has done nothing about that.”
Rahul, who later also met the workers of a closed jute mill in Rishra, called upon the people to throw out the Mamata regime and bring in the Congress. He said, “When the left ruled the State they put one foot on the brake and so the people threw them out. But when Mamata di came to power she put both the feet on it so as to stop the development altogether. Now a time has come when the Congress should be put on the driver’s seat so that it can put his foot on the accelarator to achieve a speedy development.”
Rahul was promptly subjected to counterattack by the BJP which alleged the plight of the jute mill workers was a gift not of the saffron rule but of the UPA regime. Pooh-poohing Rahul for “not knowing his facts” the lone party MlA in the StateAssembly Samik Bhattacharya wondered “whether Rahulji would seek forgiveness from the workers for doing nothing for them in the 10 years of UPA rule.”
Reminding that 18 jute mills in Bengal were closed leaving three lakh workers jobless, the BJP leader said “most of their problems were created by the UPA” after it “effectively diluted” the provisions of Jute Packaging Materials Act which gave “reservation” to jute for packaging items like sugar, rice, wheat etc. He said reservation of jute in packaging of sugar bags was reduced from 100 percent to 40 percent and then to 20 percent during the UPA.