Modi echoes Mamata's words to dig at Congress, says 'I pray you at least secure 40 seats'

In his address to Rajya Sabha, Modi, who has already set the tone for the elections, said, "A challenge has come from West Bengal that Congress won't be able to cross 40. I pray you secure at least 40 seats."

Modi's words come days after Mamata, who runs Modi's staunch opponent Trinamool Congress, dared Congress to get 40 seats amid the cracks in the opposition alliance INDIA.

In her attack on Congress, Mamata said, "I proposed that Congress contest 300 seats (across the country where BJP is the main opposition), but they refused to heed. Now, they've arrived in the state to stir up Muslim voters. I doubt whether they will secure even 40 seats if they contested 300."

"We were open to an alliance, offering them two seats, which they rejected. Now let them contest in all 42 seats alone. Since then, there has been no dialogue between us. We will fight alone and defeat the BJP in Bengal," she said.

Countering the Prime Minister's remark, Congress MP Manish Tiwari accused Modi of "taking people for granted".

Tiwari told ANI, "Arrogance is the biggest enemy in a democracy. Decision is in the hands of people. PM too will go to the people's court. Other parties will also go to the people's court.

"Making claims is one thing but the drawbacks of taking people for granted, in a democracy, is far reaching."

In his address to Lok Sabha earlier this week, Modi, who seemed supremely confident even months before the polls, said BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross 400 seats while his saffron party will alone touch 370, a figure which assumes significance in Indian polity after the Centre abrogated Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.