They may change country's name someday: Mamata

Kolkata: Reiterating that "Modi and Shah" have sold out the country, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee raised apprehension that the saffron leaders "may someday even change the name of the country" as the world's biggest stadium — Sardar Patel Stadium— has been renamed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 130,000-seat arena at Motera is the first public structure to be named after Modi. The stadium in the Prime Minister's home state, Gujarat, was inaugurated by President Ramnath Kovind on Wednesday.

Banerjee made the statement while addressing a press conference outside Nabanna after reaching the state Secretariat on an electric scooter to protest against the abnormal hike in fuel prices.

"They are changing the country's history and geography to establish their own name. Name of the stadium has also been changed. (Establishments) named after Vallabhbhai Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Baba Saheb Ambedkar are being rechristened in their names. I don't know… they may someday change the name of the country," Banerjee said, calling the BJP-led Centre as an "anti-people government".

"The government at the Centre is anti-people, anti-women, anti-farmer, anti-'majdoor' and anti-youth government. The Modi government is selling Railways, banks, LIC, etc. Modi and Shah have sold out the entire country. We want the fall of such a government at the Centre that is pushing the country to a doom," she said.

Terming the situation in the country to be alarming due to the "autocratic rule of Modi and Shah", she said: "I feel very sorry and it is very unfortunate that the Centre did not even think once about common people. How can they be so indifferent to the issue that is a cause of concern for every citizen of the country?"

It may be recalled that she had earlier taken a swipe at BJP leaders, terming them as outsiders, for "insulting the icons of Bengal." The TMC supremo had come down heavily on the saffron brigade after BJP's national president JP Nadda mistook 'Visva Bharati' to be the birthplace of Rabindranath Tagore.

She had earlier vehemently criticised the Modi government for renaming the Kolkata Port after Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. "Every political party has its own ideology and I do not have any problem with it. But my question is why should the Kolkata Port get renamed after Shyama Prasad Mukherjee," she had asked.