Modi has failed, should quit, says Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: Calling upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step down as “he has failed in his agni pariksha”, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday suggested the formation of a national government for the next two and half years to save the country. “Mr Modi, you have lost the moral authority to remain in power. You had sought 50 days’ time. Your time is up and you have failed in your agni pariksha. You should therefore, resign,” she said, addressing mediapersons at the state secretariat, Nabanna.

Ms Banerjee, who has been in the forefront of anti-demonetisation protests, said Mr Modi’s decision to scrap high-value currency notes has brought disaster across the country. “Such a situation had never occurred before. The country and its people are not safe in the hands of the present (Modi) government. Mr Modi should apologise to the people and resign from his post. And till the next general election, a national government should be formed comprising senior leaders of all major political parties,” she added.

Ms Banerjee said that in the past 50 days, since Mr Modi announced demonetisation, the country’s GDP has suffered a loss of Rs 4 lakh crore. “The economic situation can’t be normalised even in years,” she claimed. Rejecting the PM’s claim that demonetisation will help the poor, Ms Banerjee said it actually benefits “only 50 super rich industrialists of the country”. “Mr Modi and the BJP despise the poor, the SC, ST, minorities....His government is anti-poor and communal,” she said.   

Ms Banerjee said the common people are petrified under Mr Modi’s rule. “The people of India are terrified. Families are unable to organise a wedding or even celebrate a festival. Even during Emergency, the situation was not so grave,” she added.

Reacting to the arrest of her party MP Tapas Paul by the CBI in the Rose Valley chit fund case, Ms Banerjee said the BJP government has unleashed a terror. “Today, the 50-day deadline ends. The Centre anticipated we will seek explanations for demonetisation. The PMO and BJP office issued directives to the CBI and ED to arrest our MPs. Even before Independence, the country did not witness such persecution and state terror,” she said, adding she will continue her fight against demonetisation even if all her party MPs are arrested.

Ms Banerjee also attacked the Modi government for its promotion of Paytm (without naming it) in the name of “cashless transactions”. “The government passes resolution against China in Brics and then hand over entire country’s financial data to a blacklisted Chinese company. This is a very serious scam. Our country is not secure because confidential information is being leaked,” the chief minister added.