The Sanjukta Morcha, especially the CPM, accused Narendra Modi of “slogan forgery” on Thursday after the Prime Minister dedicated almost two minutes of his speech in Purulia to debunk the Trinamul Congress’s electoral slogan “khela hobey (game is on)” with issues such as unemployment, education and healthcare.

In his attempt to attack chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the Prime Minister listed the benefits of bringing the BJP to power in Bengal and said while the Trinamul leader was willing “to play”, the BJP was focusing on jobs, education, healthcare and development.

The Morcha leadership alleged that while the BJP’s focus had been on forcing defection within Trinamul for long, Modi had realised that issues such as jobs and hospitals were also important.

The Morcha said only the alliance of the Left Front, Congress and the Indian Secular Front had been speaking on those basic issues and while the polls were just a few days away, Modi was trying to steal their thunder.

“Didi bolen khela hobey, BJP boley chakri hobey. Didi bolen khela hobey, BJP boley bikash hobey. Didi bolen khela hobey, BJP boley shikkha hobey. Didi bolen khela hobey, BJP boley mohilader utthan hobey…(While Didi says the game is on, BJP says there will be jobs, there will be development, there will be education, there will be empowerment of women),” Modi said.

Reacting to Modi’s Purulia speech, CPM’s politburo member and candidate for the Chanditala Assembly seat, Mohd Salim, said it had become the habit of the BJP to “steal” anything good from the Left parties.

“The BJP had stolen pictures of our Brigade rally and showed them to be ones from Modi’s Brigade meeting because we brought more people than they managed to. Now, they are stealing our slogans,” Salim told The Telegraph.

Salim had announced from the Brigade rally that if Trinamul or the BJP said “khela hobey”, Left leaders should say “lorai hobey” or “the fight is on”.

The alliance has weaved its poll campaign around issues such as unemployment, lack of industrialisation, non-recruitment of qualified teachers and other issues affecting youths, students and the underprivileged section of the society.

Simultaneously, the CPM has fielded multiple young faces, all below the age of forty, to appeal to the youth of Bengal.

The “khela hobey” slogan quickly resonated with the youth and made it popular cutting across party lines. It was also used by members of the CPM-backed SFI and the DYFI at a rally in Calcutta on February 11. The slogan has been used at multiple BJP rallies as well.

Abbas Siddiqui, a Furfura Sharif cleric and the founder of Indian Secular Front, had earlier spoken of his discontent with the “khela hobey” slogan.

While speaking to this correspondent on Thursday, Siddiqui said he saw in Modi’s speech an understanding between the BJP and Trinamul.

“I have a feeling that Modi stole our campaign content purposefully so that Mamata could accuse us of having a secret pact with the BJP, as she always does, and benefit out of it,” he added.

Siddiqui, however, added: “Even the PM knows that the Sanjukta Morcha is the only alternative in Bengal and only we are speaking about real issues. Hence, he is trying to speak in our language.”

Responding to the criticism from leaders of the Sanjukta Morcha, a BJP leader said: “Creation of jobs has been the core area of focus for the Prime Minister. The several schemes that the Centre has introduced since 2014 are aimed at empowering the underprivileged. The promise of Modiji is in keeping with the agenda of his government.”