Mamata Banerjee hits back at PM Modi, calls him 'mad-dy babu'

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "Mad-dy babu" and said that during elections Prime Minister Modi becomes a "chai wala" while after the polls in the country he becomes "Rafale wala".

When a reporter asked that 'you said Modi babu is lying...', Mamata promptly said: "I did not call him Modi babu, I called him Mad-dy babu."

Referring to the Godhra incident, Mamata lashed out at Prime Minister Modi by saying, "He (Prime Minister Modi) doesn't know India. He reached here only after Godhra and other conflicts."

The Godhra incident that Mamata referred to was burning of two coaches of Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, in which 59 kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya were burnt alive. The incident was followed by riots in Gujarat. Modi was the Chief Minister of the state at that time.

Continue to hit out at Prime Minister Modi, Mamata said, "During the election, he (Prime Minister Modi) becomes 'Chaiwalla' after the election he becomes 'Rafale walla'. What does Modi think? He is the big boss of this country. He is a master of demonetisation... He is a master of corruption. He is a matter of arrogance."

She added: "From RBI to CBI, why is everybody saying bye-bye to him (Prime Minister Modi)?"

A few days ago, a full-blown face-off between the Mamata Banerjee government and the Centre erupted after a CBI team attempted to arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar for his alleged connection in the Saradha chit fund case. However, CBI officials were unceremoniously denied entry to the Kolkata to cop's residence and detained.

Escalating her confrontation with the Centre, Banerjee started a sit-in on the night of February 3 to protest, in what her Trinamool Congress party called a "coup" by the Modi government. However, Banerjee ended her fast on February 5.

As the Lok Sabha elections are inching closer, verbal attacks and counter-attacks have been started between the politicos.

The BJP had won just two of West Bengal's 42 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 general elections. This time the BJP has set an ambitious target of 23.