‘Game will be over on 2 May’: Narendra Modi attacks Mamata Banerjee’s ‘vote bank politics’ in Purulia rally

Purulia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday attacked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for pursuing “appeasement and vote bank politics” which were responsible for infiltration. Addressing an election rally in the tribal Jangalmahal region of the state, he alleged the ruling TMC never considered Dalits, backwards and adivasis its own, and these sections were the worst victims of cut money culture and ‘Tolabaji’ (extortion) by the state’s ruling party. He also accused the Banerjee government of patronising underground Maoist rebels. “The single-most important reason for infiltration is appeasement and vote bank politics being pursued by didi’s government,” he said. He said on 2 May, the day the votes for assembly elections will be counted, Banerjee’s “khela” (game) will be “shesh” (over) and development will start. Repeatedly accusing the TMC supremo of trying to appease a section of people for vote bank politics, Modi said, “People of Bengal have a strong memory. Bengal remembers who accused the army of plotting a coup, whose side you took during the Pulwama attack and the Batla House encounter.” The prime minister hit out at the TMC government on the issue of corruption even during the COVID-induced lockdown. Referring to a slew of central schemes which the TMC government is yet to implement, Modi said, “We believe in Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) while TMC believes in Transfer My Commission.” “The TMC has created a new breed of Maoists in Bengal who loot public money. The money meant for poor people. Didi’s government has patronised Maoist violence,” he alleged. The prime minister said Purulia’s industrialisation was neglected during the erstwhile Left rule and the current TMC dispensation. “The TMC government has given Purulia only water crisis, forced migration and administration that discriminates,” he alleged.