Mamata snubs Modi's offer to install new bust of Vidyasagar

Diamond Harbour: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's offer to install a new bust of Bengal Renaissance icon and social reformer Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar at the same spot where it was vandalised saying that Bengal has the money for it and does not need his help.

She added that it was BJP hooligans who desecrated a heritage by breaking the bust in the violence that erupted during BJP national president Amit Shah's roadshow.

She was addressing a mammoth rally here on Thursday afternoon after which she also attended two rallies at Mathurapur and Mandirbazar respectively.

Thursday was the last day of campaigning in Mathurapur and Diamond Harbour where elections will be held on May 19. The time of campaign has been curtailed following an Election Commission of India order late on Wednesday evening.

Challenging Modi, she said: "If you can prove that Trinamool Congress supporters had demolished the statue of Vidyasagar at the college, I will quit politics. And if you fail to prove it, you will have to do sit-ups holding your ears. Some goons from Rajasthan and Bihar had destroyed the statue and the Prime Minister is so shameless that he is talking about rebuilding the statue," she said and added: "A black statue will be installed in India which will be the symbol of fascism and lies that have been circulated by Modi. By installing a statue, you can't bring back the 200-year-old heritage."

Banerjee also alleged that the BJP leaders are coming to Bengal to malign the state. Without naming Amit Shah, she said: "That person alleged that I have made Bengal a state of beggars (kangal). Are we beggars? What audacity has he got to call us beggars." Continued on P7