West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee on Saturday hit out at the BJP for making disparaging comments about party supremo and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "out of spite".
"It is because they suffer from an inferiority complex due to Mamata Banerjee's popularity, charisma. They come here some times, eat on banana leaf, dine in five star hotels, make disparaging comments and go.
"This popularity is not even enjoyed by Modi in India. So they suffer from inferiority complex," said Chatterjee, also the state Education Minister.
"Since Modi is doing the work, the union ministers have no work. They are roaming around. They are attending seminars etc. They are not trying to understand the problems of the people," he said.
He was referring to Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar's comments on Banerjee on Saturday, a day after the Trinamool Congress Martyr's Rally where the party supremo had pledged to remove the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power in the next general elections.
Javadekar said at an Indian Chamber of Commerce event that Banerjee's speech highlighted her "frustration" and accused her of "disturbing" communal harmony.
"They do not know history. Who had hit the streets with Mother Teresa (during the religious violence in 1990s)? You are playing the communal card. Your affiliates are trying to divide Bengal through this communal card. What Javadekar said is ridiculous and has no link with reality," retorted Chatterjee.
Attacking the BJP for "saffronising" education in the country, Chatterjee condemned the Centre's move to thrust policies on the state without consultations.
"There is an attempt to saffronise education and every other sphere. They are planting their own people everywhere. They have the habit of imparting bad education.
"What can we expect from them. They didn't consult us before tabling the bill (no-detention) in Lok Sabha. They are creating confusion over pass-fail policy. They are playing to the galleries. We condemn the attempt to thrust on us policies without consultation.
"We strongly protest this behaviour against Trinamool and the party supremo," he said.
Chatterjee also took on the BJP's claims that more people in Bengal were coming ahead and meeting its members.
"He (Javadekar) has no understanding of the situation in Bengal. He is talking about the numbers...we can see only four people in the BJP (in Bengal). They are giving away flags with money. He should pay attention to that," he said.
"No party in India has ever spread such lies and canards."
Asked on Javadekar's statement that the Trinamool is "distributing poverty only, not prosperity", Chatterjee took a swipe at the saffron party over farmer suicides and reining in black money post demonetisation.
"How did thousands of farmers commit suicide? The poor is becoming poorer and the rich is getting richer. Is this prosperity? He must have mixed the two (prosperity and poverty).
"They are envious because Bengal is surging ahead despite the fund crunch and the Centre's non-cooperation," he added.
--IANS
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