AGENCY
NEW DELHI, May 29
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday hit out at Narendra Modi for his remarks targeting the state government over several issues, saying she was shocked and sad that when Opposition leaders are praising Operation Sindoor in foreign soil, the prime minister is busy with self-promotion.
“I thought PM @narendramodi had come to salute the Army, but he didn’t. While our Opposition leaders have gone abroad to promote Operation Sindoor, he is busy promoting himself,” she said, asking, “Have you caught those who snatched the sindoor of our sisters?’
Calling the PM “leader of the BJP Jumla Party,” Banerjee said it doesn’t look nice to talk in this manner at this time.
“You are accusing the government and you want to blame the opposition at this time, at this hour, to politicise things just like the leader of the BJP Jumla Party. You are doing garbage. They loot the country and scoot. It doesn’t look nice to talk in this manner,” she remarked.
Taking strong exception to the BJP’s “Operation Bengal”, Banerjee dared the saffron party to go into elections tomorrow.
“In his presence, his minister said they will do Operation Bengal, like Operation Sindoor. I challenge them – if they have guts, go into elections tomorrow, we are ready and Bengal is ready to accept your challenge,” she said.
Referring to the all-party delegation dispatched by the Centre to amplify Operation Sindoor message and expose Pakistani terrorism, Mamata added: “Our representative Abhishek Banerjee is also in the team. And he is speaking every day against terrorism, against terror. At that time, Mr Modi, not as the PM but as the BJP president, you are criticising the government (in Bengal) which is giving you full support, defending the country like anything.”
Her scathing remarks came after Modi targeted her government, saying the people in the state are facing multiple crises simultaneously, including insecurity of women, corruption, and declining public trust.
Addressing a public gathering at Alipurduar in West Bengal, he said, ”Today, West Bengal is facing multiple crises simultaneously. The first is the crisis of violence and lawlessness spreading in society. The second is the insecurity faced by mothers and sisters, and the heinous crimes being committed against them. The third is the deepening despair among the youth and rampant unemployment.
The fourth crisis is of grave corruption and the declining public trust in the system. The fifth is the selfish politics of the ruling party, which is snatching away the rights of the poor”.
Modi attacked the Bengal government over riots in Murshidabad and Malda, saying “poor mothers and sisters lost their life savings overnight. In the name of appeasement, hooliganism was given a free hand.”
He also raked up the issue of the alleged teachers’ scam, accusing the Banerjee-led TMC government of duping thousands of teachers.
“The TMC government has ruined the future of thousands of teachers, devastated their families, and left their children helpless. The scamsters of TMC have pushed hundreds of sons and daughters from poor families into darkness. This is not just a betrayal of a few thousand teachers’ futures, it is the systematic destruction of the entire education system of West Bengal”, he added.
