West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee upped the ante in her electioneering trail on Wednesday as she campaigned for Trinamool Congress candidate and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee in Diamond Harbour constituency. She also led a march that followed the exact same path as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow yesterday.
With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections now closer home in Kolkata and surrounding areas for the final phase, the Trinamool supremo has significantly increased her campaigning capacity. While earlier she was doing one or two events a day, now the number of daily rallies and marches have gone up to three, and even four on some occasions.
She started her day with a rally in support of TMC’s Jadavpur candidate Sayani Ghosh in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district. Addressing the crowd, Banerjee expressed her support for TMC’s Canning Purba MLA Saokat Molla, who was summoned by the CBI on Tuesday night.
The central agency issued the summons as part of its ongoing investigation into the alleged coal smuggling cases.
The chief minister then did a foot march from the statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in Shyambajar to Swami Vivekananda’s birthplace on Shimla Street in support of the party’s Kolkata Uttar candidate Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
Interestingly, PM Modi’s roadshow took the identical route on Tuesday. He offered floral tributes to Bose’s statue at the start and Vivekananda’s statue at the conclusion of the roadshow.
Meanwhile, Banerjee talked to Bandyopadhyay and party leader Kunal Ghosh in private amidst reports of rift between the two. The party chief instructed them to work together.
She then moved to Metiabruz in Diamond Harbour constituency to seek vote for her nephew Abhishek. In her usual self, she attacked PM Modi and the BJP.
“I have never seen such a lying prime minister in my life. Lies in every word. He didn’t pay for 100 days work; didn’t pay for roads; didn’t pay for Awas Yojana. He is saying Modi is giving free gas. Did you get free gas?,” asked Banerjee amidst loud share of ‘No’ from the crowd.
“There’s no bigger thief and dacoits than the BJP. They are selling everything,” she said.
The chief minister also dismissed the recent Calcutta High Court order cancelling all OBC certificates in West Bengal since 2010.
“We don’t accept that order. We have already challenged the order in Supreme Court,” she said while assuring the crowd, mostly Muslims, that their OBC status would remain intact.