Cooch Behar, 17 April (H.S.): West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally at Ras Mela Ground in Cooch Behar.

Addressing the gathering, Banerjee accused the Prime Minister of making misleading statements and urged him to “speak less lies.” She said she wanted to ask him three questions through democratic means.

Her first question related to the promise of providing two crore jobs annually before coming to power. She asked how many people had actually been employed in the past 12 years, alleging that even basic posts like gangmen in the railways remain vacant. She also accused the Centre of privatizing major institutions such as railways, aviation, and the Life Insurance Corporation.

Her second question focused on the promise of depositing ₹15 lakh in every citizen’s bank account, which she claimed had not been fulfilled. The third question was about demonetisation, which she said failed to bring back black money as promised.

Banerjee also targeted Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, criticizing the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). She alleged that members of the Rajbanshi community in Cooch Behar have received NRC-related notices from Assam and questioned the state government’s handling of the issue.

Further, she claimed that efforts were being made to bring in outsiders with the help of central forces to influence the elections in West Bengal. According to her, similar tactics had been used in other states, and attempts were now being made to replicate them in West Bengal.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey