If you have courage, hold polls tomorrow, Mamata dares PM Modi

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led Centre over comments made at his Alipurduar rally, accusing them of "going silent in front of America", selling "sindoor everywhere", and using Operation Sindoor for "political traction".

She also targeted junior Union minister Sukanta Majumdar's "Operation Bengal after Operation Sindoor" statement in Modi's presence. "This implies equating Bengal with terrorism," she said, challenging Modi to "hold elections tomorrow if you have the courage".

Banerjee accused BJP of politicising women's safety, saying: "Why have terrorists responsible for wiping sindoor not been arrested yet? ... he is selling sindoor everywhere, even in poll campaigns."

Responding to Modi's "cruelty" remark, Banerjee accused BJP of being "the mastermind behind riots". She referred to Madhya Pradesh's Vyapam scam to return the PM's teacher recruitment fire: "What happened in Vyapam? How many people died? Some 10,000 teachers lost their jobs in Tripura, 69,000 teachers lost jobs in UP."

Banerjee criticised Centre for withholding funds. "We're building roads and homes with state funds. Why has house-building money been stopped? We have Swasthya Sathi, better than Ayushman, and for all," she said, accusing BJP of "bulldozing the federal structure".