Canning/Sreerampur (West Bengal), April 26 (IANS) Describing the Centre's ruling BJP and West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress as "two faces of the same coin", Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said the "Modi-Mamata collusion" was a grave danger to the state as well as democracy.
Addressing successive rallies in the state attended by several Marxist leaders, Gandhi batted for the Congress-Left Front alliance and ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for their "tall claims of development".
"Much like Modi says Congress did nothing in 60 years and all the development work has been done by the BJP government, Mamata too says there was nothing in Bengal before she came to power.
"This Mamata-Modi collusion is a big danger for Bengal. These twin arrogant forces are a danger to democracy.
"The Modi government's functioning is endangering our country's basic structure, our secular values, our democracy and our age-old tradition and values," Gandhi said in Canning of South 24 Parganas district.
Using the example of Hilsa, the exquisite gourmet fish of Bengal, Gandhi questioned Modi's assertions of securing the country's border.
"Once Bengal's pride, such is the condition that now Hilsa has to be imported. And this is all because of Modi and Mamata.
"The BJP and Trinamool collectively have put prohibition on Indian fishing trawlers but trawlers from our neighbouring countries are being allowed to catch our fish," she alleged.
"Modi who talks big about border security, when he couldn't save the fish, how will he secure our borders? The Pathankot attack is a big example of that," said Gandhi, referring to the January terror attack at the Pathankot air force station in Punjab.
Targeting Banerjee, Gandhi questioned "why are farmers committing suicide, why is there unemployment?"
"The industries are closing, there is no sign of law and order, there is rampant crime against women and there is so much of corruption that even new bridges are collapsing," she said, referring to the Vivekananda Road flyover collapse in Kolkata in which 26 people were killed.
"The Trinamool and the BJP have put up separate masks but they are two faces of the same coin. Both of them don't believe in democracy," she said in Sreerampur of Hooghly district, while sharing the dais with Left leaders including CPI-M's Rabin Deb.
She accused the BJP and Trinamool of being hand-in-glove in parliament, wondering "why the Trinamool comes running to the rescue of the BJP when it tries to pass anti-poor bills?"
"If both of them (BJP and Trinamool) are not together, why did the central government not take action against those who looted the poor in the Saradha chit fund scam?" she asked.
Urging people not to fall into the trap of the BJP and Trinamool's fake promises, Gandhi called upon people to vote for the Congress and the CPI-M led Left Front which have entered into an alliance.
"Five years back, the Trinamool fooled you with its tall promises and two years back Modi did the same. This time don't get entrapped by the BJP and Trinamool's tall promises, but vote for the Congress and Left Front nominees," she added.
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