As polling continued in the fifth phase of the West Bengal Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi fired a fresh salvo at the TMC-led administration. Voting is presently underway in 45 constituencies spread across North 24 Parganas, Purba Bardhaman and Nadia in south Bengal, and Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts in the north.
Visuals shared by news agency ANI also show Home Minister Amit Shah holding a road show in the Amdanga area of North 24 Parganas district. The images show a large number of people crowding the road, and while they appear to be masked, social distancing norms do not seem to hold.
Speaking at a rally in Asansol, the Prime Minister contended that the "mis-governance" of Bengal's administrators had affected the area. "People used to come here for employment but today people from here are migrating. Didi, who speaks of Ma Mati Manush, has spread 'mafia raj' here," he alleged.
Lauding Asansol, Modi said that it was akin to a "mini India" with people from all corners of the country converging there. "From bicycle to rail, paper to steel, aluminium to glass - people from all over India come here to work in such factories. In a way, Asansol is mini India. People from all corners of India are seen here," he explained.
Hitting out at the the CM, Modi contended that Banerjee had "betrayed" the people in the name of development. "She stood like a wall in front of development. Centre offered facility of free healthcare up to Rs 5 Lakh, she became a wall. Centre formed laws to help refugees, she opposed this too," he alleged.
"Centre formed law to free Muslim women from triple talaq, she became angry. Centre formed law to free farmers from middlemen, she opposed this. Bengal wants double engine govt and not the one that blocks development," PM Modi added.
