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‘I never show off’: Mamata Banerjee on PM Modi reciting Bengali verse
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed to know Naga, Manipuri, Assamese, Odia, Punjabi, Marathi, Urdu, Gorkha and Nepali apart from Bengali, Hindi and English.
It’s all there on the teleprompter, said Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, making light of PM Modi quoting a Bengali verse during his Mann ki Baat radio address on Sunday, adding she knows a host of languages but does not feel the need to publicise or “show off”.
“Everything appears in front of you on a teleprompter when you are giving a public speech. You just read it. The public won’t get to see it. Only a few people know this. Earlier it was a practice in the USA and the UK. Now we are seeing it in India,” CM Banerjee said while speaking to reporters at the state secretariat.
The Bengal CM said that she learnt Vietnamese on a tour to that country and knows a bit of Russian because she had visited the country thrice. She also claimed to know Naga, Manipuri, Assamese, Odia, Punjabi, Marathi, Urdu, Gorkha and Nepali apart from Bengali, Hindi and English.
“There is no need to do publicity. Whenever I visit any state I speak in their language. I have seen enough of this drama. I never show off. I feel proud because I can raise their issues and speak for them,” the CM said.
On Sunday, PM Modi had cited a Bengali verse to highlight the significance of his government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat and vocal for local campaigns, while recalling the revolutionary-turned-philosopher Aurobindo Ghosh’s views on Swadeshi.
A challenge
The Bengal CM also threw a challenge at the BJP-led centre, saying that they may deploy as many investigating agencies and central forces as they want but it would be hard to defeat her party - the Trinamool.
“They are targeting Bengal because elections are coming. But no matter what you do, the people of Bengal will not allow an inch of their land to go without a war. Be prepared. You can send as many central agencies and send people to jail,” Banerjee said.
