Modi says Mamata regime 'darker than Left'

Basirhat (West Bengal), April 21 

Ridiculing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress over corruption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday batted for development, terming it the solution to all problems.

Addressing a poll rally here in North 24 Parganas district, Modi described the Banerjee regime as a "dark night" and also hit out at the Congress and the Left Front which have entered into an alliance for the polls.

"In 2011, when Didi (Banerjee) came to power, everybody hoped she will bring a new dawn, driving away the 34 years of darkness under the Left Front. But instead of a new sun, people of Bengal were given nights darker than those under the Left," he said.

Modi also took a jibe at Banerjee's call for "parivartan" (change) during the 2011 assembly polls.

"There was a time when Didi would crusade against corruption, always ready to fight against it. But Mamata, who came to power calling for change, has herself changed.

"The Vivekananda flyover, the Saradha scam and the Narada tapes are all glaring examples of corruption but she says nothing," said Modi referring, to the flyover collapse in the city which killed 26 people and the multi-crore-rupee Sardha scam.

He also mocked the Trinamool over the Narada tapes -- a sting operation in which many Trinamool leaders including its parliamentarians and state legislators were purportedly caught taking bribe.

Charging the successive Congress, Left Front and the Trinamool regimes with "destroying Bengal", Modi called upon people to vote for the BJP.

He spoke about his three-point agenda -- development, fast-paced development and all-round development -- and said development was the only answer to all the problems faced by the people.