Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that the government led by Narendra Modi has filed several cases against him but none against Mamata Banerjee, claiming this is because she does not “directly” fight the BJP.
Saying that the Enforcement Directorate questioned him for 55 hours over five consecutive days, the Congress leader asked, “For how many hours was Mamata Banerjee interrogated?” The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha added that there has been no probe by the ED or the Central Bureau of Investigation against the West Bengal chief minister.
“This is because she does not fight the BJP directly,” Gandhi said while addressing a poll rally at Serampore in Hooghly district for the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections.
There was no immediate response from the All India Trinamool Congress.
Noting that he is currently out on bail, Gandhi said, “My house was taken away, my Lok Sabha membership was taken away; there are 36 cases against me.” The former Congress president added that he has to travel to states such as Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Bihar every 10–15 days to contest the cases registered against him.
“I want to ask how many cases have been registered against Mamata Banerjee by Narendra Modi?” he said.
Asserting that only the Indian National Congress takes on the BJP on an ideological basis, Gandhi claimed that Modi attacks him, party president Kharge and others round the clock.
Alleging that the prime minister targets the TMC chief only during elections in the state, he said, “Let the Bengal elections end; Narendra Modi will not speak a word against Mamata Banerjee.”
Gandhi said Modi is aware that only the Congress can defeat the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and their ideology, not the Trinamool Congress.
He accused the TMC supremo of destroying industry and creating joblessness in West Bengal. “One has to have a relative in the TMC to get a job in Bengal, else he will not get any,” he said, alleging that the chief minister works in the interest of “goons and workers of her party.”
Claiming that Banerjee has done little for welfare and income generation, Gandhi pointed to the closed Hindustan Motors factory in nearby Hindmotor.
“Bengal used to be the centre of industry in the country, but first the Left Front and then the TMC destroyed everything,” he said.
“If Narendra Modi indulges in corruption, then Mamata Banerjee is also not far behind,” he claimed.
Gandhi further said that it was during the TMC government that the Saradha and Rose Valley ponzi scams involving thousands of crores of rupees took place. He also alleged that coal smuggling and illegal mining occur in the state and that a “goonda tax” is imposed on various activities.
The Rae Bareli MP alleged that Congress workers in Bengal face the same kind of atrocities from the TMC as those faced in other parts of the country from the BJP.
“Mamata Banerjee had promised five lakh jobs in 2021, but has anyone got employment?” he asked, adding that 84 lakh youths have applied for unemployment allowance in the state.
Claiming that crimes against women have risen under TMC rule, Gandhi referred to the rape and murder of an on-duty doctor at the state-run R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in 2024.
“Mamata Banerjee is opening the road for the BJP in Bengal,” he said, arguing that had she worked in the people’s interest, the BJP would not have been able to make inroads in the state.
(With inputs from PTI)