Modi plays Pranab card

Says Congress always deprived him of PM chair

Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rally at the Brigade Grounds here on Wednesday was attended by an estimated 200,000 people, sending much worry into the Left and Trinamool Congress leadership. "This crowd will tell the Third Front in which direction the wind is blowing," Modi said, referring to the meeting in Delhi by leaders from the non-BJP and non-Congress parties to reconstitute an alliance of their own.

Unlike earlier rallies of the BJP in the state, which had been attended by mostly the Hindi-speaking population here, Modi's saw wide participation from youths, rural people and many from the hills (Jaswant Singh is the lone BJP Lok Sabha member from Bengal, elected from Darjeeling). Apart from thousands of tea vendors and small traders, who were special invitees.

In an effort to make a connect, Modi often broke into Bangla, quoting Rabindranath Tagore's poems to refer to Congress' "injustice" to "the son of the land", Pranab Mukherjee. "Both after Indira Gandhi's demise and in 2004, Pranab Mukherjee was the most suitable and senior person in Congress to become PM. But, the Congress has always deprived you," he said.

"You vote for me, you will be benefited in three ways. Mamata (West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) will work for you in the state. I will work for you at the Centre. Above me, there will be President Pranab Mukherjee, who is also from this land."

He also tried sending a message to Banerjee by saying the BJP supported the state government's demand for a moratorium on interest payments on central loans, plus a financial rescue package for Bengal.

Apart from questioning Banerjee's record so far in bringing real change in the state, Modi seemed have taken the middle path in dealing with the TMC politically, which the party sees as a potential ally. "You (voters) brought paribartan in Bengal. I congratulate you for that. You now seek accountability from Mamata on how much she has been able to deliver. In the Lok Sabha, you vote for BJP and then ask me the same," said Modi, selling his development credentials to people of this state, which he said was "economically crippled" due to decades of misrule.

TMC, publicly, does not want to respond to this message, with party leader Firhad Hakim saying, "BJP is irrelevant in the state." However, some in the TMC said an increased vote share for the BJP was a cause of concern. "BJP has never got more than five or six per cent of the vote. But, if they can manage half the crowd we gathered in Brigade, there needs to be a realistic evaluation of the state," said a TMC senior.

"If the communal forces are now making inroads in the state, it is only because of TMC's decisions like declaring Rs 2,500 a month as Imam honorarium. But, still, I think the BJP's vote is not consolidated enough to translate into seats. How they change political equations would depend on whose votes they will be bagging," said a CPI-M leader.