If PM Modi Is Re-Elected, This Will Be India's Last Elections: Mamata Banerjee

Stepping up her poll offensive, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi will "throw away" the Constitution to make India a totalitarian regime if he is re-elected and the upcoming Lok Sabha election could be the last one in that case.

Banerjee also asserted she will never allow National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Bengal and asked who has given Modi and BJP president Amit Shah the right to decide who will stay in the state or leave.

The BJP, which has been mainly targetting Banerjee's Trinamool Congress in its high-pitched campaign in West Bengal for the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls, has repeatedly talked about bringing in an NRC in the state on the lines of neighbouring Assam.

Addressing an election rally in this north Bengal town in Cooch Behar district, where polling will be held on April 11 in the first phase, Banerjee also challenged Modi to win more than 125 Lok Sabha seats in the general elections across the country.

She claimed that the government of the "expiry babu", the term she has coined for the prime minister, will be defeated in the Lok Sabha polls after losing seats across north and central parts of the country.

"If he (Modi) is re-elected then it will be a disaster for the country. If he returns to power he will just throw away the Constitution written by B R Ambedkar and change this country from a democracy to a totalitarian regime. This will be the last general election of the country if he returns to power," Banerjee said.

"Narendra Modi follows the mantra of looting, rioting and killing people. He is threatening everybody and is trying to decide our political discourse. Who is he to do that ?" she said.

Like the the National Register of Citizens in Assam, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill brought in by BJP is a ploy to turn legal citizens of the country into refugees, Banerjee said. She has been vehemently opposing NRC and the CAB.

"Those who had come to India long back are now its citizens. But the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) plans to convert these citizens into refugees for six years and then grant them citizenship ... What will a person do if he loses his citizenship? What will a person do if he loses his house and job? Will he wait for six years to get his citizenship restored," she said.

The CAB provides for according Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India, instead of a provision for 12 years at present, even if they do not possess any document.

The TMC supremo said she will never allow NRC in Bengal as was being proposed by the BJP.

In Assam, where the NRC updation exercise is underway, 22 lakh Hindu Bengali voters have been excluded, while 23 lakh Bengali Muslims have been left out of the citizenship register in the north-eastern state.

She also claimed it was her TMC government which had resolved the six-decade-old enclave issue with Bangladesh in 2015.

Had the state government not taken the initiative the exchange of enclaves with Bangladesh would never have been a reality. "Now 'expiry babu' is trying to take credit for it. We have never seen such a publicity monger prime minister," the TMC chief said.

Banerjee has been using terms like 'expiry babu' and 'expiry PM' for Modi, who has called her a "speed breaker" on the path of development.

Bangladesh and India had exchanged 162 adversely-held enclaves in 2015, ending one of the world's most complex border disputes that had lingered for seven decades. A total of 111 Indian enclaves became Bangladesh territory and 51 Bangladesh enclaves became Indian territory. All the Indian enclaves are located in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district.

"BJP has only two seats (in West Bngal) now. This time they will get a big zero", she said and questioned what had the "expiry PM" done for the welfare of the country's people.

Banerjee accused Modi-led BJP government at the Centre of not doing anything in the last five years and trying to politicize the Army for its own vested political interests ahead of the elections.

"The Indian Army is not a personal fiefdom of BJP. They (BJP) have no right to use the Army for their vested interests. The Army belongs to each and every citizen of this country," she said.

Mocking BJP's 'Main bhi chowkidar' campaign, Banerjee said the 'chaiwallah' (Modi), has failed to fulfil promises made during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and has now turned into a chowkidar to fool the people.

"In 2014 the chaiwallah had made several promises but failed to fulfil even one. Where is the Rs 15 lakh in every account? Now after five years of rampant loot of public money, the chaiwallah has turned into a chowkidar.

"We have full respect towards real-life chowkidar but this chowkidar (Modi) is a liar and a feku (braggart) chowkidar," she said.

PTI