Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday engaged in a fierce no-holds-barred fight as their parties tried to outdo each other in the battle for the ballots in North Bengal. Both of them addressed well-attended rallies in North Bengal. While Modi addressed a meeting in Cooch Behar in support of the Union Minister of State for Home Nisith Pramanik, it was sandwiched between two rallies by Mamata Banerjee in Mathabhanga in Cooch Behar and Mal in Jalpaiguri districts.
Modi criticised the Opposition parties for trying to save the corrupt and asserted that he would ensure that they were punished. “They (I.N.D.I.A bloc) never cared for the marginalised communities. Now that we have brought CAA, they are spreading rumours and lies. It is Modi ki guarantee to provide citizenship to those who have faith in Maa Bharati,” he said at a mega rally at Rash Mela grounds in Cooch Behar
He hit out at I.N.DI.A alliance and said: “The Opposition alliance is busy indulging in politics of lies and deceit. I am saying remove corruption; the Opposition is saying ‘save the corrupt’. He said that he would ensure that the corrupt are punished, and the poor get justice. “In the next five years, more stringent action will be taken against the corrupt,” he added.
In a targeted attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party, the Prime Minister said the entire country saw how the Trinamool threw its weight to save the culprits of the Sandeshkhali incident. “But the BJP’s focus is empowering women. The culprits of Sandeshkhali will spend their lives in jail,” PM Modi asserted, adding that only the BJP could stop the injustice against the women of Bengal and therefore “the BJP must be strengthened in West Bengal. “What happened to the women of Sandeshkhali was a result of the TMC’s misrule. The BJP has vowed that it will ensure the punishment of the Sandeshkhali culprits,” Narendra Modi said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressed two meetings in north Bengal, during which she repeatedly attacked the Modi Government and the BJP. She accused the BJP of not following the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the Lok Sabha elections and asserted that a poisonous snake can be trusted but not the saffron camp.
Addressing a rally in Cooch Behar, Banerjee alleged that the Central investigating agencies, the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were working at the behest of the BJP and urged the Election Commission to look into it and ensure a level playing field for all political parties.
“The BJP is asking you to enrol names for Awas Yojna again. Why will the names be enrolled again? You can trust a poisonous snake; you can even pet it, but you can never trust the BJP… The BJP is destroying the country,” she alleged.
Asserting that her party would not bow before the “threat of Central agencies”, Banerjee urged women in Cooch Behar to file police complaints if “there are instances of BSF torturing locals” ahead of the polls, scheduled for April 19.
“The Central investigating agencies, the NIA, Income Tax, BSF and CISF are working for the BJP. We will humbly plead to the Election Commission to ensure a level playing field as Central agencies are working for the saffron camp. The BJP is violating the MCC,” she said.
“The BJP follows the principle of one nation, one party”, Banerjee claimed.
“It is a matter of national shame that a person against whom there are several cases has been appointed as the Minister of State for Home Affairs. He was sacked from our party. Now, he is the asset of the BJP,” she said in an apparent reference to Nisith Pramanik.
Pramanik, a former leader of the Trinamool Youth Congress, was expelled from the party in 2018. He later joined the BJP.
Hitting out at the saffron camp for nominating former Cooch Behar SP Debashis Dhar as its candidate from Birbhum, Banerjee said: “The BJP’s attitude is reflected in the fact that the person responsible for the killing of five people at Sitalkuchi during the 2021 Assembly polls has been nominated as its candidate.”
Dhar was the Superintendent of Cooch Behar during the last Assembly elections. He was later suspended and sent on compulsory waiting after the Trinamool Congress returned to power for the third consecutive term in 2021.
She reiterated her resolve not to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act in the State, Banerjee said that applying for CAA would designate an applicant as a foreigner and advised against it.
The Trinamool supremo dubbed the BJP as a “jumla” party, accused it of “peddling lies” regarding the CAA.
“The CAA is a trap to turn legal citizens into foreigners. Once CAA is implemented, NRC will follow. We will not allow either CAA nor NRC in West Bengal. If you apply, you will be designated as foreigners,” Banerjee warned.
She questioned the inclusion of a member from the census department in the CAA committee, stating: “Why has such a person been included if they have no plan for the NRC in the future? The CAA is the head and the NRC is the tail.”
Banerjee also criticised the Congress and the CPIM – her partners in the I.N.D.I.A. bloc – for “joining hands with the BJP” in West Bengal and asserted that the Opposition front had ceased to exist in the State.
“There is no I.N.D.I.A. bloc in West Bengal. I played a key role in the formation of the Opposition bloc I.N.D.I.A. Even the name of the alliance was given by me. But the Congress and the CPIM are working for the BJP in Bengal,” she alleged.
In both rallies, Banerjee said: “Don’t cast your vote in favour of the Congress and the CPIM if you want to defeat the BJP. Not a single vote should go to the Congress and the CPIM and their ally, a minority party”, referring to the Indian Secular Front (ISF).
“This minority party is just like the AIMIM. They are working to split the minority votes and help the BJP,” she alleged.
Banerjee also blamed the BJP for the deaths and destruction caused by a freak tornado and storms in north Bengal on Sunday in which five people were killed and hundreds of kutcha houses were blown away. “The BJP Government did not give the funds for Awas Yojana. So, the poor people could not get proper roofs over their heads,” she said, as she highlighted how she and her Government machinery had done a “commendable job” in giving relief to those affected in the disaster.
