New Delhi: If Thursday was about a biting attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday directed his fury at the Trinamool Congress, accusing its leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of shielding the corrupt, wanting to abandon her state and of pursuing a political culture of violence.
Addressing a rally at Mainaguri in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, Modi launched several salvos against Banerjee, and used the platform to reinforce his ‘chai wallah‘ (tea seller) identity.
“This has happened for the first time in the history of this country that a chief minister sits on dharna in broad daylight to support those who have looted thousands of poor,” Modi said, referring to the CM’s sit-in protest against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s move to investigate Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha Ponzi scam.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Banerjee have been engaged in a battle on a range of issues — from the West Bengal government disallowing top BJP leaders to hold rallies in the state to the latest war over the CBI.
‘Chai wallah’ versus ‘didi’
Modi, who was voted to power in 2014 with a massive mandate, has spared few opportunities to talk about his beginnings as a tea-seller — a useful tool to assert his humble background in a sea of ‘entitled’ dynasts — and Friday’s rally was no different.
“My connection with West Bengal is special — it is a tea connection. You grow tea and I make tea,” Modi said.
“Talking about tea, I have a question. Why does didi dislike chai wallas so much?” the PM asked in his trademark dramatic style, before going on to talk about what the Centre has done for the tea-garden workers.
Also read: After Mamata’s dharna, TMC to hold ‘save democracy’ protests to defeat Modi
Protecting the ‘corrupt’
Accusing Banerjee of batting for those accused in the Ponzi scam, Modi said he as the “chowkidaar (watchman)” would spare nobody.
“Why are you so scared of investigation of chit fund scams? Why are you giving dharna for the accused?” said Modi.
“The chowkidaar will not spare them — whether they are the corrupt or those who protect the corrupt. Everybody who is completely corrupt has a problem with me.”
The prime minister also shot a barb at what he claimed to be Banerjee’s prime ministerial ambitions. The West Bengal CM has been a key figure in trying to forge a grand opposition alliance against Modi in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.
“Didi can’t wait to go to Delhi, leaving the middle class and the poor at the mercy of an alliance of the syndicate here,” he added.
Trinamool’s ‘misrule’
Modi, who spent a considerable part of his Lok Sabha speech just hours ago condemning decades of Congress rule, trained his guns at the Trinamool government Friday.
“Those you brought to power in the name of ma, mati, manush (mother, motherland, and people), and gave the responsibility of removing communist misrule, have built their political culture around the same violence,” he claimed.
Alleging her government was that of “dalal (corrupt middlemen),” Modi said the BJP would bring in ‘sabka saath, sabka vikaas’ in the state, as he sought to list his government’s welfare initiatives — from rural houses to the Ujjwala scheme.
Also read: PM Modi bats for citizenship bill, says ground slipping from under Mamata’s feet
The ‘maha milavat’
Modi used the dais to repeat his freshly coined phrase — “maha milavat ka khel (loosely, game of mega adulteration)” — referring to a motley group of opposition parties attempting to forge an alliance against him. Questioning this alliance, he sought to underscore their inherent contradictions.
“The state unit of the Congress attacks the TMC government and says it is anarchic. But in Delhi, Robert Vadra’s brother-in-law (Congress president Rahul Gandhi) is busy supporting her,” Modi said.
The triple talaq issue
A day after Congress women’s wing chief Sushmita Dev said if voted to power, the party would scrap the triple talaq bill, Modi sought to portray the Congress, and others opposing the bill, as anti-women’s rights.
Terming the opposition to the bill as politics of “appeasement” and bringing up the Shah Bano case, the PM said this was about “women empowerment and rights.”
“You (Banerjee) are woman, why are you being a hurdle? Are votes more important to you or the rights of Muslim sisters and mothers,” Modi said.
Some day, someone will have to call his bluff. Maybe someone will have the courage to challenge Mr Modi only after he loses 2019 elections. Something tells me that he was never a chaiwala. Ask him two questions:
1) please list down all the “equipment” of a chaiwala
2) please demonstrate how you used to handle that equipment.
I am sure Mr Modi will say “pass” to both both those questions.
Some of the brilliant people working on Prime Minister’s reelection campaign, customising it for each state / region, will have to find the perfect balance between attacking the opposition and projecting a strong message of hope and positivity.