Save W Bengal from Trinamool, says PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of indulging in politics over the dead, and said the Kolkata flyover tragedy was “god’s message” to the people to save the state from the Trinamool Congress.“The flyover collapsed; it was such a big tragedy. What would most leaders do when such things happen? He or she would try to save people, assist in rescue work. But what did Didi (Banerjee) do? The first thing she did was to declare that it was the Left Front that gave the contract (for the project),” Modi said at a Bharatiya Janata Party rally in Madarihat in Alipurduar district.“Forget left or right, think about those who are dying, Didi,” Modi said referring to the March 31 Vivekananda flyover collapse in Kolkata which killed 26 people.“At least give respect to the dead; but for Didi, it’s the chair which is only visible and not the dying people,” he said.“Look at the shamelessness; it was such a massive tragedy but she started a blame game,” Modi said about the project which was conceived and whose contract was awarded during the previous Left Front regime.“I want to ask Didi, had this flyover been completed and if you were inaugurating it, would you have said the contract was given by the Left? No, you would have taken the credit for it. Now that it has collapsed, you are blaming others. This is all part of your business of money and death,” the prime minister said.Criticising Banerjee over the multi-billion rupee Saradha scam and the recent sting operation in which several Trinamool leaders were allegedly caught taking bribes, Modi said the state government was caught up in the “business of money and business of death.”Calling the tragedy an “act of fraud”, Modi said: “They are saying it is an act of god, but actually it is an act of fraud.“It is an act of god in the sense that it happened during election time so that people may know what kind of government she has been running. God has sent a message to the people - that today this bridge has collapsed, tomorrow she will finish off the entire Bengal. God’s message to you all is to save Bengal,” Modi said appealing to the people to give one chance to the BJP in the state elections.He also charged Banerjee with undermining the welfare of the state by not attending meetings convened by the central government.“I wonder what kind of a chief minister she is. Whenever the central government calls a meeting on important subjects, where all the states can put forth their issues and demands, she has always skipped them because those meetings are called by Modi.”He pointed to Banerjee’s “closeness” to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.Modi also ridiculed the Left Front-Congress tie-up.“She doesn’t come to Delhi to attend meetings called by Modi. But whenever she comes to Delhi, she never forgets to meet Sonia Gandhi,” he alleged.“You have seen enough of the Left and the Trinamool both of which have done everything to destroy Bengal. Give one chance to the BJP and we will show you what development means,” added Modi, claiming that all the states in which his party was in power have witnessed all-round development. Elections are under way in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.lTamil Nadu’s ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam yesterday changed two more candidates for the May 16 assembly elections.Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said K P Munusamy and A V M Madhu alias Hemnath would be the candidates for Pennagaram and Vepannahalli assembly constituencies respectively in the place of those announced earlier.On Monday, the AIADMK announced candidates for 227 of the 234 seats in Tamil Nadu and all 30 seats in Puducherry for the May elections.But Jayalalithaa changed eight candidates in Tamil Nadu and three in Puducherry in the next two days.