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'Varanasi won't call you outsider': PM Modi's reply to Trinamool's 2024 challenge
Mamata's party has made it clear that Didi is already looking for a place outside West Bengal, Modi said. But how will Mamata react finding so many people with 'choti', 'tilak', chanting Jai Shri Ram and Har Har Mahadev, PM Modi asked.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chose to reply to Trinamool Congress's recent challenge that Mamata will be contesting from Varanasi in 2024 and said unlike Didi, the constituency will not consider Mamata as an outsider.
"Didi's party is saying now that she will be contesting from Varanasi in 2024 Lok Sabha election. Two things are clear from this statement. One, Didi has accepted her defeat in Bengal. Right or wrong? Otherwise, why will she go outside. Second, Didi is already looking for a place for herself outside the state," PM Modi said at a campaign rally in South 24 Parganas' Sonarpur.
Mamata's mind must have strayed towards Varanasi because of the waterways that the BJP government developed to connect Haldia and Varanasi, the PM said adding that there is nothing wrong in testing the waters of the Lok Sabha election after being defeated in the assembly election.
"But I want to tell you that my people of Varanasi, Kashi, Uttar Pradesh are so large-hearted that no one will call you an outsider, a tourist or the tourist gang," PM Modi said.
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But how will Mamata react finding so many people with 'choti', 'tilak', chanting Jai Shri Ram and Har Har Mahadev, PM Modi asked, referring to the recent controversies that took place in Bengal in the run-up to the elections.
Watch: Trinamool ignites buzz about Mamata vs Modi in Varanasi. What it means
On April 1, when Nandigram voted to choose between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her former aide Suvendu Adhikari who severed his long association with the Trinamool Congress, PM Modi from a campaign rally asked Mamata Banerjee whether she was thinking of contesting from another seat. “Didi, is there any truth in the rumour that you are going to file nomination from another constituency? First, you went there (Nandigram), and the people gave you an answer. If you go somewhere else, the people of Bengal are ready,” PM Modi said.
Replying to this, Mamata said she will be winning from Nandigram. "I want to tell the prime minister to control his home minister first and then try to control us. We are not your party's members that you will control us...I am not your party's member that you will suggest me to contest from another seat," Mamata said.
Mamata's party, however, did not let this attack pass and said if she has to contest from another seat, it will be Varanasi, PM Modi's Lok Sabha constituency, in Lok Sabha Election 2024. "Didi, is there any truth in the rumour that you are going to file nomination from another constituency? First, you went there (Nandigram), and the people gave you an answer. If you go somewhere else, the people of Bengal are ready," the party said. Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, who has been vociferous in her attack on BJP, too tweeted that the PM must get his armour on.
