CM to PM: How does Rahul Gandhi's seat matter to you?
Times of India | 4 May 2024
KOLKATA/RAINA: "Besh korechhe dariyeche (he has done the right thing)," CM Mamata Banerjee said on Friday, hours after PM Narendra Modi's "daro mat, bhago mat (don't be scared, don't run away)" barb at Rahul Gandhi for deciding to contest in Rae Bareli. The TMC chief reminded Modi that he too had contested from both Vadodara and Varanasi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
"He (Modi) is also now a candidate.Today, he addressed a meeting and passed an unnecessary comment. CPM, Congress and BJP are fighting together in Bengal. But during a public meeting, he unnecessarily questioned why Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Rae Bareli. Besh koreche dariyeche. How does it matter to you (Modi)? This is his right. At some point, he (Modi) contested multiple seats. Other BJP leaders have done the same. He has no wisdom about which issues a PM should address," Banerjee said.
The CM also criticised Election Commission for "denying" around 1,500 cops who had gone to other states for election duty the chance to vote through postal ballot. The CM threatened to recall them if their voting rights were not secured. "Arrange for them to vote. Otherwise, I will withdraw the forces. Do whatever you want after that," she said.
Banerjee also questioned why only central forces had come to the state. "EC is doing whatever BJP is telling it... No police personnel from other states have come to Bengal, the EC has sent only central forces. I got to know yesterday that those who have gone from the state cannot vote. Have you ever heard that those who go for duty in other states are not allowed to vote? But the central force has postal ballots. This is discrimination. Is this how they wish to win elections? Are you not ashamed? We will take the matter to its logical conclusion and fight till the end," she said. Asserting that democracy was under threat, Banerjee accused BJP of manipulating EVMs and spreading falsehoods during campaigning. She also claimed that ED was threatening industrialists. "ED is going to their residences. They are passing the phone to a BJP man who is threatening the industrialists to join them and taking money through (electoral) bonds," she alleged. Banerjee criticised BJP for its policies like NRC, CAA and Uniform Civil Code, which she argued undermined people's rights. She also accused BJP of hypocrisy, saying the party had failed to reinstate jobs lost under CPM governance in Tripura despite promising to do so before coming to office.