In a departure from his stand in earlier rallies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday targeted in equal measure the Left Front-Congress alliance and the Trinamool Congress. In fact, he partly blamed the Left and the Congress for the Saradha chit fund scam, saying they failed to open enough bank branches in the State.
In his earlier rallies, Mr. Modi had launched a severe attack on Trinamool supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for corruption, with a passing reference to the Left-Congress alliance doing “ dosti (friendship) in Bengal and kushti (wrestling) in Kerala).”
‘Tie-up a sin’Addressing a rally at Shahid Minar grounds in Kolkata on Sunday, he described the electoral understanding between the Left and the Congress as an attempt to “cheat” the people and a “sin”, which people of Bengal and Kerala would not tolerate.
“I am surprised at the Left and Congress. What do they think of people of the State?” he said, adding that the Congress had “embraced the Left in such a manner that their own colour is appearing red.”
Even while targeting the Trinamool for the Saradha scam, the Prime Minister held the Congress and Left responsible for not opening enough bank branches. “Had the Congress and the Left opened the doors of the banks to the poor, they would not have put their money in Saradha chit fund,” he said.
If both parties had to come together they should have done so in Kerala too, he said.
Trying to put the Left Front and the Trinamool on the same page, the Prime Minister said Ms. Banerjee had taken forward the “legacy” of the Left on issues such as running of syndicates.
While criticising the Trinamool chairperson on the Narada sting video, Saradha scam and the under-construction flyover collapse Mr. Modi ridiculed her attack on the Election Commission. “On the brink of defeat, the Trinamool has lost its senses, that is why Ms. Banerjee is fighting with the EC,” he said.
