Mamata Banerjee showing the party symbol at an election rally at Berhampore in Murshidabad on Friday.
After calling
Narendra Modi a "donkey" and "danga-babu" (Mr Riot) the West Bengal Chief Minister today said she would have "sent Modi to jail by tying a rope around his waist" if she were in power in Delhi.
Ms Banerjee said Mr Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, is being protected by the Congress, which she described as "a party cocooned in fear". (
'Is Narendra Modi a Donkey?' Asks Mamata Banerjee)
Top leaders of the Congress and Mr Modi's BJP have exchanged a rich assortment of industrial-strength insults in this election season, so Ms Banerjee's allegation is in fantastical territory. (
After Calling Narendra Modi a 'Donkey', Mamata Banerjee Now Calls Him 'Danga Babu')
The Chief Minister has said
she will not join a government led by Mr Modi, who is expected to deliver the BJP's strongest-ever election result.
Like other critics, she accuses him of divisive politics that threaten social peace. In 2002, communal riots tore through Gujarat just after Mr Modi had taken over as Chief Minister. More than 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims. Critics say Mr Modi did not do enough to stop the riots. He has denied that, and a Supreme Court inquiry has found there is no evidence that he fuelled the violence. (
India Votes 2014: Full coverage)
Mr Modi has been attacked on a multitude of fronts by Ms Banerjee. He provoked her party's wrath by insinuating close links between her party and a businessman jailed for a giant Ponzi scheme that left lakhs of people in Bengal broke. She has also flayed him for his stand on illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, bordering West Bengal. (
If he becomes PM, India will be set on fire: Mamata Banerjee on Narendra Modi)
Mr Modi has said that
Bangladeshi migrants who were allowed into the country for "vote-bank politics" would be sent back if he is elected, while refugees who were thrown out of Bangladesh on religious grounds would be greeted with open arms.
Ms Banerjee has said no resident of Bengal will be sent away on her watch.