Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed that the BJP’s much-hyped Lok Sabha election campaign theme “Modi ki guarantee” meant all Opposition leaders would be in jail after June 4 once poll results are out.
The saffron campaign blitzkrieg ahead of the Lok Sabha election is woven around the theme of “Modi ki guarantee”, billed as wide-ranging promises for the development and welfare of people.
At a poll rally in Bankura, the Bengal chief minister mocked the BJP campaign’s mainstay to ask: “What is Modi’s guarantee? That he will put everyone in jail after June. Is this the language of a Prime Minister? That after elections end in June, will they pick and arrest people? Will they put everyone in jail?”
It was clear that Mamata was responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment at a poll rally in Jalpaiguri on Sunday attacking Trinamul and other Opposition parties on corruption.
“Let them conspire as much as they want. I want to give a guarantee to you that after June 4, action against the corrupt will pick up pace. You tell me, should we not remove corruption from this country? Should we not end corruption? Should we not send corrupt people to jail? Should we not get rid of TMC’s corruption? This is Modi’s guarantee,” he had said.
In her address on Sunday, Mamata accused Modi of threatening the Opposition, especially Trinamul, by using central agencies.
“Apne pura Hindustan ko jail bana diya. Ganatantra ko jail bana diya (You have turned the whole nation into a jail. You have made democracy a jail),” she said.
“We will tell him (Modi) to convert the parliament building you have constructed into a jail.... Who are you threatening?” Mamata asked, making it clear that Trinamul would build its campaign around the theme of how the BJP-led Centre is using central agencies to crack down on the Opposition.
Mamata referred to the two recent arrests of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal made by central agencies.
“They arrested former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren. I spoke to Hemant’s wife (Kalpana Soren) yesterday (Sunday). Hemant was a tribal leader and was the only tribal chief minister in the country. You also arrested the Delhi chief minister but it will not make any difference to them (the Aam Aadmi Party). They will perform better in the election,” said Mamata.
According to her, law and order is a state subject but the central agencies have been harassing her party supporters, including women in Bengal, at midnight under the pretext of cracking down on corruption.
The chief minister was possibly referring to the recent incident in Bhupatinagar in East Midnapore in which NIA officials went to the homes of a couple of Trinamul leaders in the small hours of Saturday without apparently informing the local police. The NIA team, probing into a 2022 blast case, was attacked by a local mob, which triggered a political slugfest. While Mamata accused central agencies of assaulting villagers in Bengal ahead of the general election, the BJP blamed her for masterminding attacks on central agencies.
“You (Modi) are saying you will send everyone to jail but how? We will stay in power in the state after the election. How will you send everybody to jail?” Mamata asked.
From the Bankura rally, Mamata also blamed the Modi government for not releasing the legitimate dues of the state government and not announcing any relief measures for victims of the recent storm in north Bengal.
