PM's No Names Swipes In Agra Get Response From Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati

Agra: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chose a rally in Agra to voice his retaliation to a stiff attack from the opposition parties in parliament over demonetisation.

Without taking any names, he took a dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her association with Saradha Chit Fund scam mastermind Sudipto Sen who is in jail for the last four years.

"I know what sort of people are raising their voice against me? Does the country not know whose money was invested in chit fund business? Crores put their money in these chit funds. But with the blessings of the leaders, hundreds of crores have vanished from these funds, PM Modi said at BJP's 'Parivartan Rally' ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, adding, "Due to chit fund losses, several hundreds of families have committed suicide".

Several lawmakers of the Trinamool Congress were named in the scam and some even went to jail.

The TMC chief dismissed the charge and the hit back at the PM. "Pradhan Mantri ji, you are equating corruption with all those who oppose your policies. Are you the only magician? Listen to the voice of people. Feel their pain. They are suffering and they will not forgive you for this.," Ms Banerjee said in a tweet.

But Ms Banerjee was not the only leader in PM Modi's line of fire. He said political parties that "sold their tickets to their MLAs by taking notes" are the ones that are trying to derail his move and "the country has kept quiet for 70 years", in a reference to two former members of Bahujan Samaj Party lawmakers accusing chief Mayawati of selling election tickets of Uttar Pradesh polls. "Uttar Pradesh has not sent a leader who can be traded," he added.

Almost immediately, Mayawati hit back at the Prime Minister for skipping a visit to the rail accident at Pukhraya and choosing to hold his rally instead. "They won't be spared by the people in the coming elections and this is the beginning of Bure Din (bad days) for PM Modi," said Mayawati after the PM's rally.

Reiterating that he was not going to give in to Opposition pressure, PM said, "It is a long fight but I will fight for the poor as the joy of fighting for the poor is something different."

The Prime Minister also pitched government's demonetisation move against black money as a step that will help the middle class and the poor.

He said the process to ban 500 and 1,000 rupee notes have taken out the unaccounted cash from the system and this, in turn, will help the honest.

"I bow my head in respect and salute the poor, the middle class and the honest people. They are facing hardship yet they have supported the move," PM said, reiterating his appeal of 50 days time to end the cash crunch which has seen a multitude of queues outside banks and ATMs since the announcement.