Kickstarting his poll campaign in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday enthused by the large turnout, couldn't resist taking a jibe at Mamata Banerjee stating that he now understood why the Chief Minister had to resort to violence in the state.
"I saw the crowd and thought this is the reason why didi resorts to violence. Thank you for turning out in large number. Those who advertise to be democratic kill innocent people" the Prime Minister said a public rally in Thakurnagar.
Prime Minister Modi's remark comes less than a week after vehicles used to ferrying audience for BJP chief Amit Shah's rally in East Midnapore were vandalised by miscreants when these were parked outside the rally venue.
Continuing his tirade against the Mamata Banerjee government, the Prime Minister said it is unfortunate that the villages of the state have been ignored even after so many decades of independence.
"It is extremely unfortunate that the villages of West Bengal have not been given enough attention even after so many decades of independence. Leaders have not focused on the development of rural areas. New India cannot function in this way. The central government is making every effort for the past 4.5 years for the development of farmers and agricultural labourers," he said.
The Prime Minister also appealed to the TMC government to extend support to the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019, which will be presented during the Budget Session of Parliament.
"Due to communalism, people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh had to flee from their countries. People from various religions including Hindu, Jains, Parsi found no other place but India. It is for these people that we have got the citizenship bill. I appeal to TMC to support this bill and let it pass in the Parliament."
Lauding the budget which was presented by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday, he assured people that the same is for the benefit of common man, small farmers, labourers, and people of the working class.
"There will be no syndicate tax, no obstacles. The people will directly receive the Rs. 6,000 meant for them under the new budget. The farmers can use this money to meet the expenditures needed for agriculture. This is just the beginning, the main budget after Lok Sabha election will have much more for the youth, farmers, and other sections of the society," he added.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)