BISHNUPUR/BANKURA: People who come to Bengal to create trouble during elections are “outsiders” and not those who have been staying in the state for long, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday during public rallies in Bankura.
“They are bringing in outsider goons. We do not call who have been staying in Bengal for long outsiders,” she said, urging people to remain “vigilant” against such “outsider goons who will try to disrupt polls”.
“People from Rajasthan, Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat; Marwari, Tamil and even Delhi people have been straying here. They are like us. We do not call them outsiders. Whom do we call outsiders? These are the goons being sent in from states like Uttar Pradesh. They will chew pan masala, sport tilaks and intimidate and threaten people. They are destroying all that we like about Bengal. They are destroying Bengal’s culture,” she said.
Alleging these “outsider goons” will try to “buy votes” by offering “Rs 500 and Rs 1,000”, Banerjee said: “It isn’t their money in the first place. It is your money. Do whatever you want to do with the money. But never vote for money. Had they been true to their words, not this Rs 500 or Rs 1,000, you should have received Rs 15 lakh in your bank accounts.”
“Instead of money, ask them to give you free cooking gas, cheaper petrol and diesel. Why should an LPG cylinder cost Rs 900? Why is kerosene scarce? What is the fate of the Ujjwala scheme?” she continued. “I have seen the BJP Jhargram candidate offering money for votes. Where are they getting so much cash before elections to offer everyone?”
Lashing out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in the state on Wednesday to campaign for BJP candidates, Banerjee said: “I have great respect for the PM’s chair, but I am sorry to say that Modi is a big liar.”
“I deliver what I promise but Modi fails to keep his promises,” she added.
Slamming BJP for promising to constitute the Seventh Pay Commission for state government employees if voted to office in Bengal, the CM alleged: “Look what they have done in Tripura after promising government jobs. Teachers are being laid off; Group D staffers are being made contractual.”
“Why are Modi and (Union home minister) Amit Shah silent even as farmers are agitating out in the open for months? Why are iron nails being laid out at the farmers’ protest site?” she said.
Banerjee alleged that the Centre, and not the Election Commission, was deploying police forces for polls and police personnel were coming to Bengal from BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh. “Why should police forces in poll-bound states be under them (BJP)?” she said at a poll meeting.
Saying central ministers and the PM were misusing government machinery for elections, the CM said: “The Election Commission should consider the use of central government offices in all election-bound states. If the states are under EC, why will the central offices in these states remain out of it? Why are states considered any lesser?” she said.