Rahul Gandhi hits out at PM Modi, Mamata Banerjee

Gandhi accused the prime minister and Mamata of trying to kill democracy in the country and West Bengal, respectively

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused him of trying to kill democracy in the country and claimed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was doing the same in West Bengal.

“Modiji is trying to crush democracy in the country. He has brought down Congress governments in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the most arbitrary manner,” he said at a joint election rally here with Left Front leaders.

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Gandhi, who shared the stage with former CPI(M) MP Bangsogopal Chowdhury, said, “He (Modi) wants only one leader to be there in the country and that is himself.” Alleging that Modi is attempting to spread the RSS ideology, he said, “Vichardhara ki baat kare to poore Hindustan me ek vichardhara ho, soch ki baat kare to ek hi soch ho, Nagpur (RSS headquarters) ki soch poore Hindustan me dalna chahta hai (There should be one point of view; one way of thinking; the thinking of Nagpur is being imposed on the entire country)”.

Addressing Congress and Left Front workers on a sultry day on the campaign trail for the upcoming assembly elections, Gandhi alleged that Banerjee was doing in Bengal the same thing that Modi was in the country.

“When I meet TMC MPs in Parliament, they say it is only what she (Mamata) wants that is done. None of them has any say. It is the same in BJP as well,” he claimed.

“We want Bengal to have a government in which everyone has a voice,” he told the rally, which was attended by the candidates of both the Congress and Left Front who are contesting from the seats in the area.

Suggesting there was an apparent understanding between BJP and TMC, Gandhi said, “Modiji removed the Uttarakhand government citing a sting operation and corruption, but in Bengal, he looked the other way even after the Narada sting operation against TMC leaders.”
 

Neither did "Mamataji say anything on the Saradha scam", he quipped.

Stating that Congress had played a big role in the 2011 Assembly polls in Bengal, Gandhi said, "All promises made by her (Banerjee) were broken. Mamataji forgot food security project which the UPA government had started. She also attempted to crush the Congress everywhere."