 "Narendra Modi")
After demonstrating bonhomie with the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took a swipe at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief at his first election rally in the state.
"First Saradha and now Narada...is this the Paribartan (change) that you wanted?" he asked people at a rally in Kharagpur.
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It was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that took up the Saradha issue in the months leading up to the Lok Sabha elections. This time, too, the BJP is trying to take advantage of the Narada sting video, which allegedly shows TMC MPs, MLAs and ministers taking cash for extending favours to a fictitious company.
"The entire Trinamool leadership is seen taking money. Is this the Paribartan that you wanted?" Modi asked.
Modi said while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) took 34 years to destroy West Bengal, TMC managed it in five years.
He also accused the TMC of making West Bengal an "investment graveyard" and said that the BJP be given a chance to turn around the state. The only industry thriving in the state is manufacturing of desi bombs, he said.
"There is no Paribartan in Bengal. The only Paribartan that has happened is with Mamata Banerjee who has become a shehanshah," he added.
The statements were in contrast to the friendly relations the Centre had state exhibited over the past many months. For example, at the Bengal Global Business Summit in January this year, four key ministers from the Centre - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley; minister of state for coal, power and renewable energy Piyush Goyal; minister for road transport and highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari; and minister for railways Suresh Prabhu - participated.
Everyone had, then, endorsed Banerjee. Goyal had said: "Only 22 villages in Bengal are left to be electrified; 99 per cent electrification has been achieved." Modi, however, said on Sunday the state lagged in all parameters including power.
Notably, Modi paused for several minutes in the middle of his speech as he heard prayers from a nearby mosque. The rally was held at BNR maidan at Kharagpur, which is located behind the Golbari Masjid. "This is our heritage. We should pay respect to all religions and respect their rituals and customs. We should be respectful so that the unity of India is maintained," Modi later said.
