Mamata Banerjee showed up in Uttar Pradesh today at the side of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, with a simple message -- "If Bengal can (beat the BJP) So can UP". "I have vast political and administrative experience. I can say there is a one-on-one fight in Uttar Pradesh and that Akhilesh will win... Iss Baar, Akhilesh Sarkar... 300 Paar," she said, appealing to the people not to vote for "koels" from Delhi or Hyderabad, who will "disappear once the elections are over".
The Bengal Chief Minister's sweeping victory in face of the BJP's mammoth election machinery last year has brought hope to the Samadwadi Party, seen as the underdog in the elections that begin later this week. Ms Banerjee had promised support to Akhilesh Yadav, saying she will stay out of this election since he is the face of the opposition in the state.
"They (the BJP) are a danger to Hindustan. The BJP has become a khatra party (danger signal). You have to stand on your feet and defeat them," she said. If not, "fir ye yogi-ji (Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath) aa jaayega na to ham log ko poora kha jaayega. Isko kuch aata nahin hai, sab jaata hai... jaane waalon ko jaane dijiye (If Yogi ji comes back, we are done for. He can't do anything except create a mess. Just let him go)," she added.
Yogi Adityanath, she said, should seek the people's forgiveness before he asks for votes. Reminding her audience of the uncounted people the state lost during the second wave of Covid, of the corpses flowing down the Ganga, she said, "Instead of saving the people of Uttar Pradesh, you were in Bengal trying to defeat Mamata. You let people die. You should apologise... Pehle maafi maango uske baad vote mango".
Then came the lethal shot -- "Chunaav ke time sant ban na sant nahin hota (parading as a saint during election is not the mark of a real saint)... I respect the real saints", Ms Banerjee said.
Recalling the rich history of Uttar Pradesh, the Bengal Chief Minister blamed the BJP for playing communal and regional politics in the state. Drawing a comparison with her home state, she said, "Big melas (fairs) happen in Bengal. Lakhs of people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar attend. We never ask them where they are from. It is enough for us that they are 'Hindustanis'... if the BJP goes from Uttar Pradesh, they will go from the country".
"You can destroy everything. You are playing with Baba Saheb Ambedkar's constitution. You do not believe in the law. You say big things," she added.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not spared as she questioned whether the funds from Goods and Services tax, which should go to the states, have found their way into PM Cares.
"Narendra Modi says 'humne kiya, hamne kiya' for every work done. Where do you get the money? You get it from state taxes and return just 40 percent to the states? You are saying you gave free Covid vaccines? Whose money is this? Is it not the people's money?" she said.
At the end of the hour-long speech, the 67-year-old picked up a red football and tossed it to the crowd -- a do-over of her trademark "khela hobe" (game on) move as she canvassed for Bengal's votes last year from a wheelchair. "Your turn, UP," the gesture seemed to say.
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