Didi Rejects Modi's Prediction of Her Defeat

Kolkata: Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for predicting a repetition of her defeat at Bhowanipore in this Assembly Election after Nandigram five years ago, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted of foreseeing her victory in her home turf and punctured his claims about fish production in the state.

The Trinamul Congress supremo, who addressed three poll campaign rallies in North 24 Parganas, a district with the highest number of deletions of voters' names among all in the special intensive revision (SIR) of the Election Commission, also vowed to restore the names of remaining 58 lakh deleted voters among 90 lakhs who have been delisted in the drive.

Retaliating to Mr Modi's prediction, Ms Banerjee said, “They claim they will win Bhowanipore. They won (read Nandigram) last time through manipulation. Do you now want to win using the votes of Bohiragoto (outsiders) and money? People will give you a befitting reply.”

She then dismissed his allegations against her government of failing to serve fish to the Bengalis. “The PM stated that there is not enough fish production in Bengal! But what about the fact that they themselves do not allow fish in Bihar, UP, Rajasthan? In Delhi, shops selling fish and meat are attacked. And then you come to teach us a lesson on fish production?” the CM wondered.

She added, “Earlier, we used to import fish from Hyderabad. But now 80% of fish are produced here. However, we have an issue that we consume premature fish. But under the agriculture department, we grow fish in all water bodies. We started this 4–5 years ago. They need not worry about fish production in Bengal. Instead tell me why Bengalis in other states are stopped from eating fish or meat.”

Taking a swipe at Mr Modi for drawing a comparison with neighbouring states, the TMC chief argued, “He claimed that in Bihar fish production is so high that fish is sold outside the state. It happens because people in Bihar are not allowed to eat fish. In our state, the fish get sold in the markets. First, check the numbers.”

She further pointed out, “Hilsa fish is now available widely in West Bengal. We established a research centre for Hilsa production in Diamond Harbour. We have given special emphasis on fisheries to help the fisher communities. We have issued the Matsyajibi Card to track and find fishermen if they go missing.”

Targeting the PM over a record number of deletions of voters' names in the SIR, Ms Banerjee sought him to explain if they were infiltrators and alleged, “To grab Bengal they deleted over 90 lakh voters. Still, TMC will win. I have fought at the Supreme Court and succeeded in restoring 32 lakh names which were wrongly deleted earlier. I will ensure the rest are restored too.”

She observed, “Those whose names have been removed from the list should apply at tribunals. However, I am unsure if they will get the right to vote in the first phase.” Rejecting Mr Modi's allegations against her government of running “a factory of infiltrators”, the CM claimed, “In reality, you are trying to set up a factory of outsiders here.”