PM must cross-check facts before making comments: Mamata

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his comments on her performance as the Railway Minister, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday that Modi was "uttering lies" and making comments without cross-checking the facts.

"You (Modi) were again telling lies today. Are you not ashamed? You said Mamata Banerjee did nothing as the Railway Minister. You have not given a single train to Bengal even though you are in power for five years. You have done nothing for Bengal.

"You only listen to your cadres and make comments without cross-checking information. You have to take responsibility for making remarks without cross-checking the facts," Banerjee said, while giving details of the new trains she had proposed as the Railway Minister.

Addressing a rally in Nadia's Bagula in support of Rupali Biswas, the Trinamool candidate from Ranaghat, Banerjee also described Modi as a "dictatorial and fascist ruler."

Attacking the Prime Minister for demanding a report card from her, Banerjee said: "The Prime Minister should explain what he has done for the country in the last five years before asking what I have done. He was visiting foreign countries for more than four-and-a-half years."

She also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of doing politics of hatred and indulging in communal violence in the country.

Speaking at a public meeting in Nadia's Kaliganj earlier in the day, the Trinamool supremo said the BJP would draw a blank from the state in the Lok Sabha elections as the people will give the party a "kanchagolla" (round sweets resembling zero).

She also claimed that the BJP would not get a single seat in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala while its numbers would drop in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Referring to Modi's remarks made during his rally in Buniyadpur in South Dinajpur district on Saturday morning, Banerjee said: "Today he (Modi) again said that the people in Bengal have been denied the right to worship goddess Durga. Tell me whether you were able to celebrate Durga, Saraswati and Laxmi puja here or not."

In an apparent reference to Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, she said they (BJP leaders) were often coming to the eastern state to "mislead the people by uttering lies".

--IANS

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