Modi promises tough punishment for guilty in Saradha scam

The Saradha scam would be thoroughly investigated once the BJP comes to power at the Centre, roared Narendra Modi, the party’s prime ministerial candidate at an election rally at Seerampore in West Bengal on Sunday.

Not one to be cowed by the overwhelming presence of Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress in Bengal, Modi picked holes into Banerjee’s Saradha scam strategy,’When did Ma Sarada become a chit fund? What have you done with the dreams of the people of Bengal?’ ‘Mamata as well as Chidambaram are protecting those guilty of the scam’,  Modi accused. ‘All those who are guilty of cheating in the scam will be booked by the BJP Government when it comes to power in Delhi’, Modi vowed.

Accusing Banerjee of misusing the police force, Modi said that she is treading on the same path as the Left Front. ‘Mamatadidi, kahan gye aapka mamata?’, he queried.

Lashing out at Rahul Gandhi from the same platform, Modi said that for him Bharat Ma is ‘matribhumi’ for him but for Rahul Gandhi, ‘Bharat ma is matr bhoomi...just a piece of land’. ‘The 2014 election is not poll arithmetic but chemistry of the mind of the people’, predicted Modi.

The BJP which had virtually no presence in Bengal hopes to cash in on the groundswell of emotion that is in the state because of the Modi to make a dent in the prospects of both the TMC and the Left parties.

In Serampore, the campaign for the Lok Sabha seat has acquired an interesting twist with Bappi Lahiri, the flamboyant singer-composer contesting on a BJP ticket. Bappida been dazzling the electorate in much the same way he dazzled the audience in his youth as a performer. ‘Ghar ghar mein Modi’, said Bappida, promising a hospital with ICU facilities, work for everybody especially women’s empowerment.