Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his tall promises of shielding India's borders from any intrusion, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday asked as to how the former would protect the borders from intrusions when he could not protect the fish into the Indian waters from foreign fishermen.
"The BJP and the Trinamool have banned fishermen's trawlers, but neighbouring countries' fishermen are openly fishing into the Indian waters. Prime Minister Modi, who makes tall promises on the border security, is unable to save your fish, then how will he protect our borders? The recent Pathankot incident is a living example of it," said Gandhi while addressing an election rally in the Canning Paschim assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district.
"On the one hand, the Bengal Government has left the fishermen on their own condition; while on the other hand, the Modi government at the Centre is taking away their livelihood," she alleged, citing that the BJP and the Trinamool have banned fishermen's trawlers.
Recounting that Bengal was a leader in rice production, Gandhi said, "Since the Trinamool Government came to power, rice mills are closing down one after another. Bengal, which used to export rice, is craving for it now."
"The entwinement of Mamata ji and Prime Minister Modi ji has given this gift to the people of Bengal," she added.
The fourth phase of West Bengal Assembly elections was concluded in 49 constituencies of Bidhan Nagar, Howrah and North 24 Parganas today. Over 1 crore voters cast their vote to decide the fate of 345 candidates, including 40 women, in this round.
Bengal goes to the fifth phase of polling on April 30 in 53 assembly constituencies.