Such threats don’t suit a PM: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Narendra Modi’s ‘hisab’ speech

KOLKATA: CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday countered PM Narendra Modi's "hisab liya jayega" Brigade speech, telling him that such threats did not suit a country's PM.

Banerjee also alleged a plot was being hatched to murder her. "The PM will have to take responsibility if something happens," she said during a College Street-to-Esplanade roadshow on Monday, her first after the Election Commission's announcement of the poll schedule for Bengal and three other states and a Union Territory. PM Modi had told a BJP poll rally at the Brigade on Saturday: "Chun-chun ke hisab liya jayega (Everything will be accounted for )."




The Bengal CM also slammed the EC for its late-Sunday night order transferring two of Bengal's top bureaucrats — chief secretary Nandini Chakravorty and home secretary J P Meena — calling it "midnight mayhem" and accusing the poll panel of being "anti-women" for transferring out Bengal's first female chief secretary.

"What did you do last night? I got a message at midnight.... Have you heard of such a thing happening at midnight?" she asked the crowd after her march to protest against the LPG crisis. "A group is using someone to create havoc. The chief secretary was a Bengali woman. They are anti-women. The rule is to ask the state for a list. We used to send three names and they would select one," she added.

"This is suo motu! It is like a lawless land, like a feudal estate!" Banerjee said, then again referring to PM Modi's Saturday's speech: "...in a country where the PM says in meetings that they will eliminate (others) one by one."

The CM also accused the EC of being "anti-Hindu" and "anti-Hindi". "Who was state's director-general of police? It was Peeyush Pandey. He was also dismissed without a word. You are not only knocking out Bengalis but also non-Bengalis. You are looking for those who will work for BJP. But, whoever you send, they will work for us. They will work for the people," she said, adding that about 50% of those who died because of "SIR-related pressure and anxiety" were Hindus.

Banerjee alleged that the BJP, in the run-up to the election, was offering cash to people. Kolkata Police commissioner Supratim Sarkar was removed to make way for ferrying cash into the state. "There is no use threatening the police. They are just doing their job, which they got because of their merit, not because of you. They will say they will deal with you later if you transfer them for a month," she added.

"Boycott the BJP and do not be lured by the cash they are offering. Remember that both taking and giving a bribe are offences. Keep tabs on your areas and ensure that the BJP fails to bring in people from other states. You have seen what happened in Bihar. Nitish Kumar has become ‘Finish' Kumar after the poll. People got Rs 10,000 before the poll. Now they are facing bulldozers," she said.

Banerjee also slammed Modi for his mispronunciation of Rani Rashmoni's name and his "insulting" Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, who he had previously called "Bankim-da". "First learn Bengali properly or do not speak it at all," she said.

The Trinamool Congress chief also spoke about Modi's "propaganda" about scarcity of work in Bengal. "You love neither Bengal nor India. Workers from states like Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are here and we live with them peacefully. You plead with Bengalis to work in your states because you lack merit and technical expertise," Banerjee said, accusing Modi and union home minister Amit Shah of trying to "break the unity of people in Bengal". "Bengal never accepts defeat, the people of Bengal will knock you out," she warned.

Banerjee called the LPG crisis artificial. "They shut the gas-booking server to create an artificial LPG crisis. I have had met the companies and their representatives assured me there was no LPG shortage. People want gas, not cash," she said.