Purulia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election campaign rally, ahead of West Bengal assembly polls, in Purulia district, Thursday, March 18, 2021. (PTI Photo)
Kolkata, March 18 (IANS) Countering Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress' popular slogan "Khela Hobe", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday trained guns at the West Bengal chief minister countering her with politics of developments, instead of unabated violence.
"Didi bole khela hobe, BJP bole chaakri hobe. Didi bole khela hobe, BJP bole vikas hobe. Didi bole khela hobe, BJP bole shiksha hobe....Khela shesh hobe, Didi ar vikas aarambho hobe, (Didi says there will be a game but BJP says there will be employment generation, development and education. Didi's match will come to an end and the process of development will start in Bengal)," Modi said at an election rally in Purulia.
Modi also took a dig at the issues like drinking water crisis, rampant corruption and violence across the state by the ruling Trinamool Congress in the past 10-years.
"People of Bengal want an answer from Mamata Didi. This government has robbed people of its rights in the name appeasement. It has neglected the issues of Other Backward Class (OBC) communities. The state government has also encouraged coal and sand mafias in running syndicate raj across Bengal," he said.
Optimistic about Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s electoral win, he said that the people of Bengal would resist the misrule of Trinamool in the forthcoming state assembly polls this time.
Braving high mercury, hundreds of sloganeering BJP supporters, armed with party's flags, caps and posters, came to attend the Modi rally that was held at Bhangra More in Purulia district on Thursday.
"The countdown for the end of the Trinamool government has begun. Now no more fear. Our target is to only secure electoral victory...Didi has received leg injury. I'm concerned about that. I pray so that' she gets well soon," he said, wishing Mamata Banerjee a speedy recovery.
Earlier, the state unit of BJP had dubbed Mamata's Nandigram incident a sheer 'drama' to win voters' sentiment in the seat.
Banerjee had sustained injuries while campaigning in East Midnapore's Nandigram on March 10. She had been taken to Kolkata and admitted to the state-run SSKM Hospital. She was discharged last week after two days of medical observation.
Modi further alleged that the Trinamool Congress has encouraged Maoist's violence in Bengal for their own political gains. "Didi I know you are angry with me. But you are also a daughter of India and I respect you," the PM said at the rally.
Nandigram is a stronghold of newly-inducted BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who had been elected from the high profile seat in 2016 and became a minister in Mamata Banerjee-led state cabinet.
Adhikari had joined the saffron brigade in December last year. The rebel Trinamool leader had claimed earlier that he would defeat Banerjee by over 50,000 vote in Nandigram.
Giving a befitting reply, the saffron unit had also announced Adhikari's name as their candidate in Nandigram seat. Naturally, Nandigram assembly constituency virtually turned into a high-octane battle ground for the warring Trinamool and BJP camps with the state's two political titans -- Banerjee and Adhikari -- fighting an election against each other.
