PM Misusing Govt Machinery for Political Campaigns: Mamata
Tarakeswar: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “misusing” government machinery for political campaigns. Addressing a poll rally in Tarakeswar in Hooghly district, Banerjee alleged that Modi had embarked on “illegal campaigning” for the BJP with his address to the nation on the women’s quota bill.
Accusing the Prime Minister of violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), he said, “They (BJP) misused the government machinery for political campaigns yesterday. We condemn this and will file a complaint (to the Election Commission).”
Addressing the nation on Saturday, a day after a bill to introduce 33 per cent women’s reservation in legislatures from 2029 was rejected in the Lok Sabha, Modi warned the Congress and its allies that he would punish them severely for the “sin of foeticide” of women in India.
“You (the Prime Minister) have to answer to the people of India for running an illegal campaign for your party,” Banerjee said.
The TMC chief stated that the women’s reservation bill was passed in September 2023 and asked why the central government has not implemented it yet.
Questioning “how many times the same bill has to be passed”, Banerjee claimed that the BJP-led government had linked the limitation bill with the women quota legislation introduced in the Lok Sabha.
“They had the audacity to bring the bill in the Lok Sabha even though they did not have the required numbers to pass the bill,” he said, claiming that the “collapse” of the BJP had begun.
Criticizing Modi for stating that he was the BJP candidate in all 294 seats in the Bengal elections, Banerjee said, “He is trying to imitate what I said.”
“You (the Prime Minister) are not a voter in Bengal, you are an outsider,” he said, asking him to resign as Chief Minister and then announce his candidacy in the state assembly polls.
Addressing another poll rally at Kalna in Purba Bardhaman district, Banerjee claimed that if the BJP comes to power, it will eliminate all welfare benefits offered by the TMC government like ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’, ‘Joy Johar’ for Adivasis or ‘Oikyoshree’ for minorities.
He said one crore girls in the state were receiving assistance under the Kanyashree scheme.
“BJP had promised before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections that Rs 15 lakh would be transferred to the bank account of every citizen. The party had promised two crore jobs every year; instead, unemployment increased by 40 per cent in the country during the BJP government,” the TMC chief said.
Accusing the BJP of indulging in vindictive politics by using central agencies like CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax department to intimidate TMC leaders, Banerjee threatened to take legal action, saying, “Nothing can happen one-sidedly.”
The TMC chief accused the BJP government of trying to intimidate him by raiding buildings linked to his security guard.
The ED conducted raids on the premises of Kolkata Deputy Commissioner of Police Shantanu Sinha Biswas and a local businessman on Sunday as part of the money laundering probe.
“Even if a gun is pointed at me, I will not bow down,” he said.
Elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
