Modi, Mamata face off as poll battle heats up

KOLKATA/GUWAHATI: The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress on Saturday stepped up offensive ahead of the third phase of election in West Bengal, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the TMC of depriving the state of development and chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that the BJP was indulging in divisive politics.

Modi alleged in rallies in Hooghly and South 24 Parganas that the “obstructionist mindset” of CM Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress had deprived east Bengal of industries and jobs. He also criticised her for branding BJP leaders as “outsiders” and said it was an insult to the inclusive ideology of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Later in the day, the Prime Minister also spoke of Banerjee’s 2024 Lok Sabha election challenge to the BJP and said: “Her party is now saying that Didi (Banerjee) will fight Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi. This means... and Didi is finding places for herself outside Bengal!”

Banerjee hit back at BJP on Saturday, accusing the party of engineering communal strife. She said that the BJP will force “many citizens to leave” their place of stay by implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC). “They will divide West Bengal and its people. Remember how they

deleted the names of 14 lakh Bengalis and two lakh Biharis in the updated NRC in Assam,” she said at a rally in Raidighi.

Holding his last rally for the BJP’s campaign in Assam, which will also vote on April 6, the PM said in Tamulpur: “We believe in ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas’ (with all, development for all, with trust of all).

While the BJP has posed a challenge to the TMC in Bengal, it is seeking to retain power in Assam.