'Vote to drive Modi out of power'

Chopra (North Dinajpur): With just hours to go before the polls, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee trained guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said if he is taking credit for the air strike, then he should also take responsibility for the killing of 40 jawans who lost their lives in a terror strike in Pulwama on February 14.

Addressing an election rally in Chopra on Wednesday afternoon, Banerjee said: "This time it is a very important election. This election is to defeat the BJP. It is to drive out the BJP from power... This election is to make sure that Narendra Modi can never be the Prime Minister of the country again. We must ensure that they (BJP) never come back."

She further said it is most unfortunate that Modi is taking credit for the air strike. "It is a shame that Modi had asked the first-time voters in an election meeting to exercise their franchise in favour of BJP keeping in mind the action of the Indian Army. We are all proud of the Army and Modi is taking credit for their feats. He should then also take responsibility for the death of the jawans and will have to answer whose callousness had led to the unfortunate incident. The Centre had the information that there could be an attack but still no action was taken to save their lives," she asked. She also alleged that all the institutions have lost their sanctity because of constant intervention from the saffron party. "The integrity and credibility of the agencies are being questioned because of BJP," she maintained.

Banerjee said BJP is trying to divide between the people of the Hills and plains. "When Darjeeling was burning, Modi did not come to solve the problem nor did the BJP MP was seen anywhere. They have now come to get votes and win the election."

The Chief Minister stated that in the past four-and-a-half-years, Modi had not done anything for India. "Note ban is a curse and has affected thousands of poor people. Many have lost their jobs. The unemployment is mounting and he had made a false promise that 2 crore people will get jobs per year. The economic condition of the country has turned from bad to worse. But he is unperturbed and busy in making foreign trips."

Banerjee urged people not to waste their votes by casting them in favour of BJP, CPI(M) or Congress. "Two Congress leaders, one in Berhampore and another in Jangipur are receiving support from the RSS. Congress gets support from BJP and CPI(M). A Congress worker attends his party meetings in the morning, CPI(M) in the afternoon and BJP in the evenings," she alleged. The TMC supremo said Amar Singh Rai, the local candidate, is a son of the soil and will do all-round development in Darjeeling.

Chopra falls under Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat where the election will be held on April 18.