PM Modi rakes up Saradha, Narada issues in West Bengal rally

Takes a dig at TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee; asks whether this was the Paribartan (change) the people wanted

After demonstrating months of bonhomie with the Mamata government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today took a dig at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo at his first campaign rally in the state.

"First Saradha and now Narada...is this the Paribartan that you wanted?" he asked the people gathered at the Kharagpur rally. 

Incidentally, it was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that really took up the Saradha issue in the months leading up to the Lok Sabha elections. This time, too, with the Narada sting video — that allegedly shows Trinamool MPs, MLAs and ministers taking cash for extending favours to a fictitious company — it's the BJP that's making the maximum noise.

"The entire Trinamool leadership is seen taking money..is this the Parbartan that you wanted?" Modi asked.

The Prime Minister also said that while the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI (M) took 34 years to destroy West Bengal, TMC completed it in five years. 

He also said that the TMC had made Bengal an investment graveyard and sought a chance to turn around Bengal. The only industry thriving in Bengal was manufacturing desi bombs, he said.

"There is no Paribartan in Bengal. The only Paribartan that has happened is with Mamata Banerjee who has become a 'shehanshah'," the Prime Minister said. 

The statements were in contrast to the friendly relations that the Centre had state exhibited over the past many months.

At the Bengal Global Business Summit, the Centre  was represented by four key ministers from the Centre, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State for Coal, Power and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal, Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu.

Everyone had then endorsed Banerjee. Goyal had said "Only 22 villages in Bengal are left to be electrified; 99% electrification has been achieved." Modi however said today that Bengal lagged in all parameters including power.