Kolkata/Burdwan: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday strongly hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "thieves" slur from his Dum Dum rally last week, saying she "did not expect this from a PM". "I respect his chair, he should also respect ours," she said.
Speaking at her first public meeting in Burdwan after Modi's Friday rally, Banerjee also took a "votes (Bengal polls) are near" jibe at the PM for loudly chanting "Joy Durga" these days instead of his "Mamtaji toh Durga Puja nehin karne deti (Mamataji doesn't allow Durga Puja)" claims earlier.
"Now, he says Jay Maa Durga louder than us. It is because elections are near and they are vote-seekers. They have only one religion, manufactured Hindutva. They created this and wanted to impose it on people. But they must remember that their own version of Hinduism cannot be forcibly imposed here. It won't happen even in a thousand years. No one can take away Bengal's identity and uniqueness. Bengal will not bow down. We are all humans first and that is our greatest identity," the CM said. | Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in KolkataAttacking the PM for his "I stopped the funds because there are thieves in Bengal" barb, Banerjee said: "I do not expect this from the Prime Minister. I respect his chair, but he should also respect ours. Why should he say ‘I stopped funds because there are thieves in Bengal'? Uttar Pradesh is the biggest thief. Maharashtra and Bihar, double-engine states, are the biggest thieves. How many teams did they send to defame Bengal? They sent 186 teams. Can you imagine?"The CM also pointed out that "all gram panchayats did not belong to us (Trinamool)". "Many parties are there. GPs cannot belong to one party alone, just as we have MPs and MLAs from different parties. In a democracy, we will have different parties. There were some problems and they (Centre) sought our response. We have answered all your queries, yet you stop funds and call Bengal a ‘thief'. They had sent 186 central teams to Bengal to probe corruption charges and found nothing. How can a student accept getting zero marks after answering all questions? We will not tolerate this," she said.