West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee touched off a war of words with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when she said that she feels like giving one "tight slap of democracy" to PM Modi. A furious Trinamool Congress supremo claimed that PM Modi deserved the slap for repeatedly accusing her party TMC of using extortion money.
Addressing a public rally at Santuri in Purulia, Banerjee said, "Money does not matter to me. That is why when Narendra Modi came to Bengal and accused my party of being tolabaaz, I wanted to give him a tight slap of democracy."
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#WATCH West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Purulia: Money doesn't matter to me.That is why when Narendra Modi came to Bengal and accused my party of being Tolabaaz (Toll collector), I wanted to give him a tight slap of democracy pic.twitter.com/JnE5xywWJI
— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2019
Mamata Banerjee launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister after PM Modi said West Bengal under Banerjee was known for "triple T -- Trinamool, Tolabaazi, Tax". "Tolabaazi" is a Bengali term used to describe organised extortion. The West Bengal CM also questioned the BJP's nationalistic and patriotic claims, stating it was an "RSS man" who killed Mahatma Gandhi.
The TMC chief said that TMC is run with money collected from the sale of her best seller books, paintings and other work undertaken by her party as opposed to the syndicate money as claimed by Modi.
Banerjee continued her attack calling Modi a prime minister who is "known for telling lies". Reacting to the PM's allegation that some people had been arrested for chanting "Jai Shri Ram", Banerjee said: "I will not join them (BJP) in shouting their slogan. I will rather say Jai Hind."
The TMC chief asserted Modi will not get a second term in office as he failed to bring in 'acche din' that he had promised in 2014. Instead, more than 12,000 farmers committed suicide, factories got closed and three crore jobs were lost. Meanwhile, Banerjee claimed that there was distress everywhere but the income of those living in West Bengal went up three-fold, reports a news agency.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was in Kolkata, told news agency ANI that Mamata Banerjee's syndicate morcha was influencing the elections. "In spite of central forces coming and assuring the voters that their presence will make a difference, Didi's syndicate morcha people are all over the place. Mamata Banerjee screams about democracy, she is the one who is violating democracy," Nirmala Sitharaman was quoted in ANI as saying.
It seems like the political temperature is soaring rapidly in the ongoing election season. As the politicians continue to intensify the poll battle, it is appalling to witness opposition leaders stooping so low.
