Sonia, Modi never seen in times of need: Mamata

Ridiculing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who have been campaigning in West Bengal for the ongoing assembly polls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the two are never available at times of need.

"Leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Narendra Modi are touring Bengal now. You cannot see them at times of need," Banerjee said at election meetings in South 24 Parganas district.

Targeting Modi, she said since he came to power the whole country has landed in a mess.

"Narendra Modi thinks he is a big leader. The whole country is in a mess," she said.

Mocking the Left Front-Congress alliance, she said they had teamed up as they were afraid of her.

"If they are so scared of me, what will they do when they see the love and support from people of Bengal for me?" she wondered.

The Trinamool supremow predicted that the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Congress would be reduced to signboards after the poll results are out on May 19.

"Left Front will not have any identity after the polls. CPI-M and Congress will lose miserably," Banerjee said, adding she believed grassroots Congress workers will not vote for CPI-M.

Dismissing CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra's claims that the alliance was on road to winning 200 of the 294 assembly seats in the state, Banerjee challenged the tie up to win 20 seats first.

"The alliance is a hotchpotch affair. They say they will win around 200 seats. Let them first win 20," she said.

"Don't tug at us after the polls, don't come to us and say 'help us, help us'," she retorted while addressing the rallies at Raidighi and Baruipur.

Banerjee exhorted the electorate to remain alert, cautioning the Opposition would resort to rigging.

"Do they think, just by shifting the district magistrates and superintendents of police, they can win the elections," she questioned.

The Election Commission has removed over 50 officers during the ongoing six-phase staggered polls in the state. Banerjee had earlier alleged, the poll watchdog was working at the behest of the Opposition (BJP, CPI-M and Congress) parties.

--IANS

sgh/ssp/vd

A