Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a tirade of criticism against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging that her government had “ruined the dreams” of people by stalling development in the state, ANI reported.
At an election rally in Kharagpur district, Modi compared what he called the dismal failure of the ruling Trinamool Congress’ development initiatives, with Friday’s social media outage.
On Friday evening, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram were briefly down globally. Services were restored around 11.30 pm. Modi drew parallels between the voters’ expectations and the anxiety of social media users. “You must be aware that last night WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook were down for 50-55 minutes, everybody got worried,” the prime minister said. “But in Bengal, development and dreams have been down for 50-55 years.”
Modi added that the Trinamool Congress was not alone to blame, and the responsibility for the crisis rested squarely on previous governments. “First, it was Congress, then Left, and now TMC, who’ve blocked state’s development,” he said. “In the last 70 years, you gave opportunities to everyone but give us five years, we will free Bengal from the 70 years of destruction.”
The prime minister claimed that the state was desperately yearning for change. “Bengal has given chances to Congress, TMC, Left. If you give BJP a chance this time, we will show you what real change looks like,” Modi added, according to The Mint.
He also accused Banerjee of running “a school of brutality”, which he said taught extortion, syndicates and anarchy, according to The Indian Express. “Didi [Banerjee], Bengal gave you 10 years to show your work, but you betrayed the people with ‘tolabaji’, violence and misrule,” Modi said.
Modi also took a jibe at Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, alleging that he was in control of everything in the state, according to The Economic Times.
Without taking names, the prime minister said, “Industrial units are getting shuttered. You know, a single-window system is created for speedy clearances for industries. In Bengal, too, there exists a single window....the single window of ‘Bhaipo’ [nephew] without crossing which no work gets done.” The BJP has often accused Abhishek Banerjee of running syndicates that extort money from common people.
The prime minister blamed Banerjee of standing in the way of central government schemes from reaching West Bengal. “Didi’s government is refusing to implement the National Education Policy,” he said. “She doesn’t care about the future of the youth of Bengal. I want to assure you all that we will not let Didi play with the future of Bengal’s youth.”
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