KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his 'sent by God' comment, albeit without naming the country's top leader.
Speaking at an election rally in Mathurapur in the Sunderbans area of South 24 Parganas district, she claimed that "faced with the phobia of a certain election defeat", BJP leaders were saying "all kinds of things that made no sense".
Dripping with sarcasm, Banerjee, in an oblique reference to PM Modi, said, "He is now calling himself the son of God. He claims that, unlike us, he doesn't have biological parents. He says he has been sent by God. I ask, does God send someone to orchestrate riots or spread lies through advertisements or jail people in the name of NRC exercise?"
"Does God send his emissary to sponsor hooliganism in the name of CAA or stop funds for 100-day work or prevent rural houses from being built? Does God go back on his promise of depositing Rs 15 lakhs in people's bank accounts? God cannot do such things," she added.
The chief minister's remark came in the backdrop of PM Modi's interview to a national TV channel where he reportedly said, "Until my mother was alive, I used to think I was born biologically.
After her demise, when I look at my experiences, I am convinced that I was sent by God. This strength is not from my body. It has been given to me by God.
That's why God also gave me the ability, strength, pure-heartedness, and inspiration to do this. I'm nothing but an instrument that God has sent."
Banerjee further ridiculed Modi for BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra's controversial remark about Lord Jagannath being a "devotee of the prime minister", which Patra had later retracted.
"If Lord Jagannath is a devotee of Modi babu as claimed by his workers, then shouldn't we build a temple in his name, offer pujas and prasad before his photo and engage a priest for him? We can do all that, but he shouldn't play politics by saying such things," Banerjee said.