Mamata now trains gun on Guj economy

Cut to the quick by Narendra Modi’s criticism of Bengal, Banerjee hits where it hurts the most

Mamata’s ‘poriborton’ versus Modi’s ‘development’ war spilled on to social media late on Thursday.

Within hours of the Gujarat chief minister and BJP’s PM candidate asserting that a strong “teacher” was needed at the Centre to discipline the Trinamool Congress, Mamata attacked him in a Facebook post, claiming the economy of Gujarat had actually decelerated under Modi.

“Gujarat’s growth rate which was 14.97% during 1980-90 and 12.77% during 1990-2000 fell to 9.82% during his period from 2001-2011,” wrote Banerjee.

“Moreover, the myth of industrialisation of Gujarat during his period that is being carried out is also false propaganda, as industrialisation of Gujarat had already happened before he came to power,” she added.

The attack, aimed at blunting Modi’s edge in his primary pith of development and economic progress, was Trinamool chief ’s second salvo on Modi model in past one week.

On April 5 in another Facebook post Mamata attacked Modi’s much-touted Gujarat model and cited human development indicators to prove her contention that West Bengal was a better “model of governance” than Gujarat.

She compared data on infant mortality rate, maternal mortality ratio, school drop-out rate, household access to safe drinking water and growth in revenue collection in both the states to drive home her point. “Our growth in revenue is an all India record. We have achieved this through simplification of procedures, transparency and e-governance,” she wrote.

Over the past few weeks, Mamata has been targeting Modi, his party and the Gujarat model of development with sharp criticism.

Modi, in his turn, returned the fire in his Thursday rally at Siliguri. He accused Didi of following “vote-bank politics” (read minority appeasement) and failing to usher in “real parivartan” in Bengal. It wasn’t always like this. His demeanour in Siliguri was in total contrast to his February 5 speech at Kolkata’s

MODI HAD CRITICISED MAMATA’S ‘PORIBORT 0N’ AT A RALLY IN SILIGURI

Brigade Parade Ground, where he was seen making overtures to Banerjee for a possible post-poll alliance.

But on Thursday, he attacked Banerjee for failing to usher in the promised ‘poriborton’. “I can see Bengal has made up its mind about bringing in the real parivartan, not the bogus poriborton (what Trinamool brought in 2011),” he said.

He also touched upon the Saradha scam, a soft spot for Banerjee as several of her leaders are seen close to and benefiting from the group.

Since she came in power in Bengal in May 2011, she has faced latent criticism in various circles that she should learn from Modi’s model on how to attract investment to her state.

Also, driven out by Banerjee, Tata moved its Nano plant to Gujarat. While Banerjee rode anti-Nano stir to wrest power from the Left, she made enemies in corporate/industry circles.