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This election is a fight between me and BJP, says Mamata Banerjee at road show
The Trinamool Congres organised a mega road show on International Women’s Day to target women voters who comprise more than 49% of the electorate.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that the crucial assembly polls in the state is a fight between her and the Bharatiya Janata Party as she mounted an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.
“Remember it is me who is contesting from all the 294 seats. The fight is between me and the BJP,” she said while addressing a rally in central Kolkata on Monday.
The TMC organised a mega road show on International Women’s Day to target women voters who comprise more than 49% of the electorate and who registered nearly 82% turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“Gujarat is a Modi-Shah model state. According to media reports the state has registered two murders and four rapes on an average every day in the last two years. According to government figures there have been 1944 murders, 3095 rapes and 4829 cases of abduction. The highest number of rape cases was recorded in Ahmedabad. Uttar Pradesh, the favorite state of Modi, topped the list with the maximum rape cases,” Banerjee said while launching a counter attack against Modi’s allegations of poor safety for women in Bengal.
On Sunday, while addressing a rally in Kolkata, Modi had attacked the Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government on women's safety.
“They (Modi and Shah) often say that women are not safe in Bengal. But the fact remains that women roam safely at 10 pm, at midnight and even at 4 am. They go out for work during the day,” the chief minister said while accusing the Prime Minister of telling lies.
In the roadshow, Banerjee was flanked by party’s women MPs and MLAs and a dozen of women celebrities who have been fielded as candidates in the upcoming assembly polls.
The padayatra in the heart of Kolkata saw a huge participation of women carrying posters, banners and party flags. While some were blowing conch shells and drums others could be seen holding pictures of women icons such as Rani of Jhansi and Mother Teresa.
“He has changed the Covid vaccine into Modi vaccine with his picture. He is renaming stadiums, schools and colleges after him. Some day he would change the name of India and rename it after his own. He has even sent his name to ISRO. Who wants to see your picture?” she said.
The Election Commission (EC) has already asked the Union government to stop using Prime Minister Modi’s picture on Covid-19 vaccination certificates in states where assembly elections are being held. The EC’s order came on a complaint by the Trinamool Congress this week.
Attacking the Modi-government over the issue of rising LPG prices, Banerjee said even though her government was providing free rice to the people, it takes ₹900 to get a LPG cylinder to cook the rice.
“As election approaches, they come up with many promises. I would say that we don’t need anything. Just give us free LPG. We don’t want to hear your preaching,” she said.
The BJP hit back saying that the chief minister is just trying to divert the attention.
“This election is all about what the state government has done in the last ten years. It is not about how the Union government has fared. That result has already been declared in 2019 and people have expressed their confidence on Modi. She knows that she is going to lose and hence diverting all the attention. Such tactics won’t work anymore,” said Dilip Ghosh, BJP’s state president.
