Mamata hits back at PM Modi’s ‘speed breaker’ barb with ‘expiry babu’ jibe, dares him for debate

Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling her a “speed breaker” in the path of West Bengal’s development, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday described the former as “Expiry Babu” and dared him to participate in a direct debate with her.

Refuting PM Modi’s claim of the TMC government stonewalling development in West Bengal, Banerejee said that she did not tell lies as she was not PM Modi.

“Income of farmers increased three times in Bengal, while 12,000 farmers committed suicide during Modi rule,” said Banerjee while addressing a rally in Dinhata.

She further hit back at the prime minister for taking potshots at her as well other opposition leaders for expressing doubts over Balakot airstrike, saying: “we are nationalists, not fascists”.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi accused the Congress and the TMC of being sympathisers of Pakistan who wanted to "break the morale" of India's security forces and make them "helpless" in the fight against terror.

Kicking off his campaign for the Lok Sabha election in West Bengal with rallies in Siliguri and Kolkata, PM Modi also trained his guns on Banerjee, calling her the "speedbreaker" in the path of the state's development who wanted poverty to stay so her "politics of poverty" can flourish.

At both the rallies, Modi slammed opposition parties for seeking proof of the damage done by the Indian Air Force in Pakistan's Balakot where terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's training camps were targeted to avenge the killing of 40 CRPF troopers in Kashmir's Pulwama.

"While your chest swelled with pride and you held your head high, some people began crying and shouting here," he said.

"When the wound has been inflicted there (in Pakistan), why do you (the opposition) feel the pain. The 'didi' sitting in Kolkata felt the pain more than it was felt in Islamabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi," Modi said, taking a swipe at Banerjee, who had demanded proof of the extent of damage inflicted during the IAF raids in Balakot.