KOLKATA: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, calling them dictators who wanted only one party and one leader to rule while justifying his party’s alliance with the Left to end “misrule” in the state.
Addressing a rally at which Left and Congress workers were present at Niyamatpur in Burdwan district, Rahul said, “Modi is destroying democracy in the country by imposing President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as he believes there should be only one leader and one party in this country. Mamata too is just trying to copy him in Bengal and trample democracy here.
“During the last Assembly elections we had an alliance with the Trinamool Congress and helped her win as we wanted the masses to achieve victory. But winning with our help she sabotaged our pledges and tried to wipe out the Congress. During the UPA-II government unused central funds were returned as Mamata didn’t do any work,” he alleged.
Rahul clarified that it was not the Congress leadership but its ground-level workers who wanted an alliance with the Left Front to end the reign of terror in Bengal while beaming CPI(M) leaders like former MP and state minister Bangshogopal Chowdhury sat on the stage from which he was speaking.
Rahul urged Congress workers who had been attacked and killed during the 34-years of Left Front regime to join hands with the Left and defeat “Mamata as it is the need of the hour and in the interest of the people of Bengal.”
“After a sting operation in Uttarakhand, Modi immediately ordered a probe. But here even after TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were caught taking cash, there is no probe. There is an understanding between Modi and Mamata as both are silent on such a serious issue,” he further alleged, before a crowd carrying the tricolour as well as red flags.
Rahul assured that once the Left-Congress government was formed in Bengal the first step would be towards industrialisation and youth would no more need to migrate for jobs.
Rahul earlier visited the victims of the flyover collapse at the Calcutta Medical College but refrained from commenting saying: “This is a tragedy and I don’t want to indulge in politics over it.”