'BJP Bharat Chodo' slogan reverberating across country: Mamata Banerjee

Accusing the Centre of not acting against perpetrators of atrocities in Manipur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday asserted that the slogan of 'BJP Bharat Chodo' (BJP Quit India) is reverberating across the country.

She also said that "Prime Minister Narendra Modi can't speak on corruption" as his government was facing allegations of graft "in PM Care funds, Rafale deal and demonetisation".

Her comments came hours after Modi, while virtually addressing the G20 Anti-Corruption Ministerial Meet here, said India has a strict zero-tolerance policy against corruption.

Modi accused the opposition parties of "running away" from the Lok Sabha during a debate on the no-confidence motion, and said his government has countered the "negativity being spread" by them across the country.

In response, the feisty TMC supremo said the PM was "blaming the opposition without any evidence as the BJP doesn't want the country's poor people to survive".

"The prime minister is misleading the nation. He is speaking without any evidence. The BJP doesn't want any poor people in the country to survive. He cannot speak on corruption, as there are several graft allegations against the BJP government, be it the PM Care fund, Rafale (aircraft) agreement, selling defence PSUs or demonetisation," Banerjee said in an audio message.

She also accused the prime minister of not taking any action against corruption within his party.

In an apparent reference to the PM's allegation that the opposition didn't want a discussion on Manipur in Parliament, Banerjee said, "The BJP-led government at the Centre has not taken any action against those involved in atrocities in the northeastern state".

"In West Bengal, too, 15-16 people have been killed by them (BJP) during rural polls," she alleged.

Later, in another audio statement, Banerjee said just like Mahatma Gandhi's call for Quit India movement against British rule, in the present times, the slogan of 'BJP Quit India' is reverberating across the nation.

"We want the BJP to be ousted. We are not asking their leaders to leave the country; they should be out of power. BJP quit India. INDIA (opposition bloc) will defeat the saffron party," she said.

Banerjee said the TMC and the Opposition INDIA bloc will never allow the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in the country.

"The way we have stopped NRC (National Register of Citizens) and CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), we will not allow UCC in the country. The tenure of the Union government is just six months, so they should stop using central agencies to threaten the state governments led by opposition parties," she said.

She also slammed the prime minister for "stopping" funds for West Bengal under the MGNREGA scheme.

"The only intention behind stopping of funds is to ensure that West Bengal starves financially. The Centre is trying to run a parallel government in the states by using the Raj Bhavan. Before maligning West Bengal, he should take care of BJP-ruled states," she added.