KOLKATA: The ruling Trinamool Congress today criticised Congress president Sonia Gandhi for comparing its supremo Mamata Banerjee with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating it was "unfortunate" and "speaks of the political desperation of Congress."
"After listening to what you said in your #BengalPolls campaign meeting, you have tested the limits of our politeness and compelled us to react. How could you – how dare you, we would say – compare Mamata Banerjee to Narendra Modi?
"How could you even concoct something as devious and ridiculous as that? This is sad and unfortunate, it is also petty and speaks of political desperation. The lengths people go to, to try and score cheap points in election season," a statement issued by TMC chief national spokesperson Derek O'Brien here said.
"We know why you said what you did today. The circle is now complete: Sonia and Modi are on the same side. Mamata Banerjee is on the other side. In Bengal your party is a facsimile of the Communists.
"In Delhi, you play along with the BJP government. No wonder the National Herald case is "under control". No wonder the promised investigations against UPA ministers and your associates have not materialised. The Sonia-Modi arrangement is so neat, it has reduced national politics to a protection racket. And in Kolkata, the pot calls the kettle black," the statement added.
The TMC leader said, "We have always been very restrained when it comes to criticising you. We have strived to maintain decency and decorum and never attacked you personally, despite political differences and vitriolic and hostile words used against the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee by your Congress underlings," he said.
Launching a frontal attack on TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today accused her of unleashing 'tanasahi' (autocracy) in West Bengal and said the chief minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are "two sides of the same coin".