West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee staged dharna only to protect fraudsters

Churabhandar, Feb 08: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday launched a sarcastic attack on the Mamata Banerjee government, claiming it had defamed the soil of West Bengal and left its people helpless.

Addressing a BJP rally here in North Bengal's Jalpaiguri district, Modi said it was a shark associateand not 'Didi', as Banerjee is fondly called, that was running the state.

Criticizing Banerjee for the sit-in she staged against the attempted questioning of Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar by the CBI in the Saradha chit fund scam case, the prime minister said it was for the first time that a chief minister had staged a dharna to protect the scammers who snatched lakhs of poor people.

Striking an emotional chord with the locals at his hugely attended public meeting here at Mainaguri on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "You people grow tea...I make tea. And I wonder why Didi (Mamata Banerjee) is not fond of chaiwallahs."

“Now the people of Jalpaiguri will get justice in Jalpaiguri itself. They won’t have to go to Calcutta High Court for legal help. You will now get those facilities right here only,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra on Friday also laid the foundation stone for the four-laning of the Falakata–Salsalabari section of NH-31 D. This 41.7-km long section of the national highway will be constructed at a cost of about Rs 1,938 crore within 2.5 years.

Talking about law and order situation in north Bengal, Prime Minister Modi said: “The law and order situation here has worsened over the years. Youths are migrating due to rising unemployment. Industries were not developed, and projects are stalled. All this doesn’t bother the government of West Bengal,” he said.