West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to take action against corruption after June 4, stating that the BJP’s “Modi ki Guarantee” implies imprisoning opposition leaders post-elections.
Addressing a rally in Bankura, the TMC chief accused the “BJP of turning the entire country into jail and urged wives of TMC leaders to hit the streets if their men are arrested ahead of the polls”.
Results of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections from April 19 to June 1 will be announced on June 4.
Continuing her tirade against the central agency, Banerjee alleged that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had gone to Bhupatinagar in Purba Medinipur district without informing the local police.
“The Prime Minister is coming to West Bengal to address election rallies. I have no issues with that. But the way he is saying that stern action will be taken against the opposition over corruption after the Lok Sabha poll results is unacceptable,” she said.
Modi, while addressing an election rally in Jalpaiguri on Sunday, had claimed that while he says “remove corruption”, the opposition says “save the corrupt”, promising more stringent action against the corrupt after June 4.
“Is this how a Prime Minister should speak? What if I say I will put BJP leaders in jail after the election? But I will not say this as this is unacceptable in a democracy,” she said.
“This is actually ‘Modi ki guarantee’, putting all opposition leaders in jail after June 4,” Banerjee alleged.
The TMC boss said the BJP has “in reality turned the country and democracy into a jail.” Banerjee claimed that “in one pocket you have the ED and CBI while in the other you have the NIA and Income Tax. They are your allies, who are used to threatening us. But the BJP cannot scare us.”
Hitting out at the BJP for raiding the houses of TMC leaders at night, the chief minister said, “Henceforth if TMC leaders are arrested by the agencies, then their wives will hit the streets. We are not scared of these agencies.”
A team of the NIA was allegedly attacked by a mob on Saturday when it went to arrest two main suspects in a 2022 blast case in Purba Medinipur district, sparking a political slugfest with Banerjee accusing the investigators of assaulting the villagers.
“Sending agencies to harass women in the area at midnight and later claiming that these women attacked the NIA personnel is unacceptable. Law and order fall under the jurisdiction of the state. It is not appropriate to avoid informing the local police and to attack women at 3 am, only to inform the local police at 5 am. Such actions are not acceptable,” she said.
Banerjee slammed the centre over the arrest of tribal leader and former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and said, “Why did you arrest a tribal leader and Chief Minister Hemant Soren? I spoke with his wife yesterday.”
Soren was arrested by ED in January in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
“Why was Arvind Kejriwal arrested? He is working from jail. His arrest won’t make any difference as he will win the election next time with a bigger margin,” she said.
Taking a swipe at PM Modi for not announcing relief for the people affected in Jalpaiguri following a storm, Banerjee said, “The BJP government at the Centre is neither announcing it nor allowing us to do it by claiming that it would be a violation of MCC (model code of conduct).”
“The Prime Minister held a meeting in Jalpaiguri yesterday. But he didn’t utter a single word about providing any relief to the people of Jalpaiguri who lost their family members or whose houses were damaged in the massive storm,” she said.
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