Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi slammed the Left parties at a rally in Kolkata today but stopped a step short of criticising West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
In a speech that is expected to fuel speculations about a possible alliance between the BJP and Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, Modi said the people of Bengal should usher in a parivartan (change) at the Centre in line with what they have done in the state by ousting the Left parties.
Trying to find a foothold in the state that has 42 Lok Sabha seats, Modi requested the huge gathering the Brigade Parade Ground to elect BJP candidates from all the seats in Bengal. The BJP is a fringe force in Bengal with only one MP in Darjeeling, where Jaswant Singh could win in 2009 with the support of Gorkha Janamukti Morcha.?
“Here you have elected Mamata Banerjee. She is working for development. In Delhi, we (a BJP-led government) will work for your development. Then there is Pranabda (President Pranab Mukherjee), who is also from your state, said Modi.
He did not turn the heat on Banerjee or her government and kept his comments limited to questions only. You have voted for parivartan. Can you see it anywhere? The people of Bengal are waiting for it. One of the fiercely debated questions in Bengal in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls is whether Banerjee will enter into a tie-up probably post poll with the BJP.
The Trinamool chief herself has struck a position of equal distance from the Congress and the BJP. She had described the BJP as a ‘party of rioters’ in her address at the same Brigade Parade Ground on January 30.
Modi took a dig at the “secular parties” (read the Left parties) and congratulated the people of Bengal for ushering in a change by handing over the reins to Banerjee in the 2011 assembly elections. The Gujarat chief minister also blamed them for the sufferings of labourers and using the Muslims for reaping political gains.
“Third Front (comprising Left parties) leaders should come and see what is happening in Kolkata,” Modi said, buoyed by the huge crowd. Bengal has never been a stronghold of the BJP. Before the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government came to power, the Left parties were at the helm for a period of 34 years.
Known to be bitter critics of Modi, Left leaders often turn the heat on the Gujarat chief minister by raking up the 2002 riots. However, there appeared to be a sharp difference between the BJP state national leaders in so far as determining their approach to Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress.
While state president Rahul Sinha sharply criticised the Trinamool chief, BJP president Rajnath Singh not only refrained from criticising her, but also supported her demands for a financial bailout package from the Centre.
Bureau Report
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