January 07, 2026 01:15 pm (IST)
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Mamata targets Modi and Centre at martyrs day rally
Kolkata, July 21 (IBNS): With her eyes now trained on the 2019 general elections, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday upped the ante against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over several issues- ranging from economic policies to communalism- at the party's martyr day rally in Kolkata.
Banerjee said while the Modi government too is using CBI to intimidate the regional parties, it has failed on the economic front and on delivery of services it promised, thus ruining the lives of many, including the Dalits.
She said the saffron brigade is trying to divide the society over everything- from preferences of one's food [read beef ban] to availability of services and education.
The emphasis on the BJP as her main enemy is noteworthy since as political observers felt that she is considering the Congress and CPI-M as spent force in the state.
Hitting out at the Modi government over Aadhar Card issue, Mamata Banerjee said, "The Centre is saying that Aadhar Card would be compulsory for all. You can do it, actually I want to do the same. But more than 1 crore people of my state have not been issued Aadhar Card yet. The Centre has failed to complete the project. Near about 800 villages of West Bengal have no banks. We feel people's problems, Central government should realize it."
Mamata Banerjee said that her state is repaying a large amount of money every year, which was putting the state's economy down.
"Though Bengal is a poor state, it never puts it head down. We are having to pay back the loans, which were taken by CPI-M government earlier, with interest. When Congress was on power, they did not help us and presently the BJP government is not helping us. The State government can't print notes, the Central government does this. In this tough scenario, our growth is 600% higher than the Centre," Banerjee said.
Mocking the BJP led central government over its use of national probe agencies, she said, "When they failed to deal in a political way, they unleash the CBI and ED to dishonour us."
She said businessmen in thousands left the country because they were harassed by such agencies. She said while the government could not bring back black money, it ensured that the white money make a flight from India.
Protesting against the deprivation of Centre's fund distributions, Banerjee said, "The Centre has stopped sending us funds for Sarba Siksa Abiyan [education for all campaign] mission and police modernization projects. They are giving shares and making programmes without consulting me."
"We are planning missions and the Centre is advertising these with their own tags. They are fooling the people. They have set only 100 crore rupees for Beti Bachao Beti Padao [save girl child, educate them] project, which was inspired by our Kanyashree mission, for the whole country. Here, our investment for Kanyashree project is 1500 crore," she added.
Calling the Centre's policies as incorrect, TMC supremo said, "They are interfering on states' federal structure. Maximum states are suffering for Centre's wrong economic policies."
She said the communal agenda will not be allowed in West Bengal and people cannot be intimidated like the ruling party at the centre is doing.
"Remember, you can be thrown away any time by people," she said warning the Modi government.
{image_5}"Over an usual road accident too, few people are trying to set communal violence in several parts of the country. We have to stay alert to avoid the instigation. We have to keep communal harmony in the state and the entire country," Banerjee said during her speech.
Amidst a tight security, TMC on Thursday observed martyr day in Kolkata's downtown Esplanade area, making the city motionless.
On July 21 in 1993, as many as 13 activists of Youth Congress were shot dead in Kolkata's Esplanade area during a clash with police. Since the formation of TMC, the party has been commemorating the day as martyr day every year.
(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
Images by IBNS
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