Bengal has brought together the nation through ‘Vande Mataram’, and on this land, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was terming people “bohiragoto” (outsiders), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today, announcing that if voted to power, a “son of the soil” will be made the BJP’s Chief Minister in Bengal.
Addressing an election rally in Kanthi in the Purba Medinipur district, PM Modi said that Bengal was the land of icons like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore and Subhas Chandra Bose and on this land, no Indian was an outsider.
“Bengal brought together the people of India through Vande Mataram, and on that land, Mamata-didi is talking about ‘bohiragoto’ (outsider). No Indian is an outsider here, they are children of Bharat Mata (Mother India),” he said.
“You are maligning Nandigram and its people before the entire country. This is the same Nandigram that gave you so much. The people of Nandigram will not forgive you and will give you a befitting reply,” the PM added.
The insider-outsider debate in the West Bengal elections gathered momentum after Banerjee repeatedly highlighted her “daughter of the soil” pitch during a rally in Nandigram.
She has also asserted that she will not let Bengal be ruled by “outsiders” from Delhi or Gujarat, in a veiled reference to the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Mamata-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) also launched the ‘Bangla Nijer Meyeke Chaye’ (Bengal wants its own daughter) campaign, with party leaders calling BJP functionaries visiting the state as “election tourists”.
West Bengal elections will be held in eight phases from March 27-April 29 for 294 Assembly seats. The counting of the votes will take place on May 2.
