West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should do “sit-ups holding ears” if he was found lying, ANI reported. Banerjee was addressing a rally in Barasat after the end of Election Commission’s 24-hour ban on her campaigning.
“Narendra Modi said that Mamata didi did nothing for Matua community,” Banerjee said. “I am publicly asking him to accept the challenge...If I have not done anything for them then I will leave politics, if you are lying then you will do sit-ups holding ears.”
The Matua community is comprised of Hindu refugees from Bangladesh. There are nearly 1.5 crore voters of the Matua community in West Bengal, who wield impact in at least 30 Assembly seats.
The Trinamool Congress chief also said that the Election Commission should ban the prime minister from visiting West Bengal on polling dates, adding that she was ready to cancel her meetings too, NDTV reported.
The election rally took place after the poll body’s restriction on Banerjee’s campaigning came to an end at 8 pm on Tuesday. She was barred from campaigning for violating the Model Code of Conduct by allegedly asking voters to attack central security forces and for appealing to Muslims to vote against the Bharatiya Janata Party. As a mark of protest, the West Bengal chief minister on Tuesday staged a dharna at Gandhi Murti in Mayo Road in Kolkata.
Campaigning for the fifth phase of West Bengal elections will end on Wednesday evening as the Election Commission has extended the “silence period” to 72 hours from the usual 48 hours. The decision was taken after violence in Sitalkuchi of Cooch Behar district during the fourth phase of elections.
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