'PM should look in the mirror first, BJP full of dacoits': Mamata slams Modi over allegations of corruption against TMC

Jalpaiguri: Demanding a white paper on the investigations conducted by central teams in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that PM Narendra Modi who accuses her TMC of corruption should look in the mirror first.

Addressing an election rally at Moinaguri in Jalpaiguri district, Banerjee said it was the TMC which is fighting the BJP in the state, while the CPI(M) and Congress were working with it.

"BJP had sent 300 central teams to Bengal to investigate the allegations of corruption but they didn’t find anything. Now, PM Modi needs to answer the people of Bengal, what happened to the MGNREGA funds? Poor people worked under the scheme but were not paid," she said, demanding a white paper into the investigations.

"The PM says TMC is a corrupt party. He should look in the mirror first. His party is filled with dacoits," she added.

Banerjee called the BJP an 'anti-Bengali party', and alleged that it was 'planning to drive out' tribals, Dalits and OBCs in the 'garb of NRC'.

"We won't allow NRC in Bengal," she asserted.

Upping the ante against the CPI(M) and Congress, she said, "Only TMC is fighting the BJP in Bengal, while the other two opposition parties are working with it. We are with the I.N.D.I.A. bloc at the national level, but in Bengal, TMC must win to save the country."

Banerjee claimed that if the BJP returned to power no more elections would be held in the country.

"There will be the rule of one man and one party," she claimed.

The chief minister also took on the Election Commission, accusing it of not allowing the state government to rebuild the houses damaged by a storm in Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar and Alipurduar.

"Let the polls be over, we will rebuild those houses," she said.

Claiming that the BJP-led government at the Centre did nothing for the ailing tea gardens of northern West Bengal, she said, "Our government has reopened 59 tea gardens and gave land rights to the workers who have been living there for decades."

Banerjee alleged that some BJP members shouted "chor-chor", targetting her convoy in the Chalsa area of the district.

"Just imagine their audacity. I am not even drawing my MP pension. I don't take any salary. I travel in my own car and do not use a government vehicle. I wear simple clothes and lead a simple life. I even pay for expenses such as a cup of tea," the CM said, stating that she would have taken stringent action against them if elections were not underway.

However, she was quick to add, "I won't stoop to the level of the BJP."

Following the rally, she led a roadshow in Siliguri, the largest city in northern West Bengal, in support of the party's Darjeeling candidate Gopal Lama. He has been pitted against BJP MP Raju Bista and Congress's Munish Tamang.

Banerjee accused the BJP of spreading hatred and alleged that it was labelling Sikhs as Khalistanis, Muslims as Pakistanis and Bengalis as fish-eating non-religious Hindus.

"It shows the deep-rooted prejudice among the top BJP leaders. Will you decide what to eat and what to wear? Who is forbidding you from eating vegetarian food? We have no issues. Then how can you criticise if someone eats fish?" she said.

Banerjee was referring to PM Modi's statement at an election meeting in Udhampur on Friday, accusing opposition leaders of demonstrating a "Mughal mindset" and "teasing" the people of the country by consuming non-vegetarian food in the holy month of Sawan and posting a video of it online.

Greeting people on Basanti Puja and Annapurna Puja, the CM said, "From Durga Puja to Eid to Christmas, we celebrate every festival with equal gusto. Bengal wants to keep that spirit alive. Bengal does not want riots which the BJP is planning ahead of the first phase elections."