Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday changed her campaign pitch in Raiganj as the CPM and the Congress became her primary targets, briefly overshadowing Narendra Modi who has been her punching bag during her current campaign.
“You have voted the Congress and the CPM for years. They have failed to carry out development in North Dinajpur. It is our government that has taken up development here. This time, vote us as the contest is between us (Trinamul) and the BJP,” the Bengal chief minister told a rally in Raiganj, the former bastion of the Congress and its leader Priya Ranjan Das Munshi.
Unlike the other seven north Bengal seats, Raiganj has a four-cornered contest where Trinamul’s Kanaialal Agarwal is pitted against Das Munshi’s wife and Congress candidate Deepa, outgoing CPM MP Mohammad Salim, and Debasree Chaudhuri of the BJP.
Trinamul and the BJP have never won the seat as the Congress and the Left have held sway. Raiganj has over 52 per cent minority votes. These have traditionally been split between the CPM and the Congress. On Tuesday, Mamata appeared to be rooting for a change, seeking to swing the minorities in her favour and project Trinamul as the sole opponent of the BJP.
“We insist on (winning) all 42 seats in Bengal as along with our allies, we would play an important role in forming the new government. The BJP will be voted out in most states.”
After explaining why minorities should rally around Trinamul, Mamata carried on with her tirade against the Prime Minister.
“He is a fascist ruler… earlier, he was a chaiwala…now he claims to be a chowkidar. We don’t need a chowkidar but a proper leader who can run the country in a better manner. He and his party leaders are often referring to defence forces to reap political dividends. The chowkidar was busy making foreign trips in the past four-and-a-half years and now, he is making promises and asking for votes,” Mamata said.
She referred to the BJP’s Ayodhya-Ram Mandir plank. “We have developed various religious sites across Bengal but Modibabu has failed to build the Ram Mandir. He rakes up the issue ahead of polls as part of a strategy to win support,” Mamata said at her 10th public meeting in north Bengal.
