Rahul Gandhi says TMC govt will collapse like fallen flyover

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that Mamata Banerjee government would collapse under its own weight just like the Vivekananda Road flyover collapsed in March in Kolkata. “The flyover symbolises Mamata government. Ms Banerjee had promised that she would change Bengal but for five years she did nothing. For five long years, the construction work on the ill-fated flyover also did not move even an inch. After five years, the flyover came crashing down and now the Mamata government is going to fall like nine pins,” he said while addressing an election rally in Bengal.

Explaining the reasons behind the flyover crash, he said that Ms Banerjee had given the contract to her party men who used sub-standard cement and steel. “It was not the TMC people who suffered any loss. It was innocent people who lost their lives and suffered injuries in the tragedy,” he added.

Mr Gandhi then slammed the ruling party for being neck-deep in corruption and running a syndicate raj in Bengal. “You should vote for Left-Congress coalition to bring an end to the syndicate raj from the state,” he added. Significantly, Mr Gandhi addressed election rallies in Howrah’s Shyampur and Howrah North and North 24 Parganas’ Basirhat. Everywhere, CPI(M) leaders like not only shared stage with him but also jointly addressed the rallies. In Basirhat, CPI(M) MP Ritabrata Banerjee and Mr Gandhi were engaged in animated conversation like two friends.

Like he had done in his previous speeches, Mr Gandhi again claimed that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ms Banerjee had deceived the people through false promises. “Both have failed to take any action against corruption,” he added.

Mr Gandhi said that the Left-Congress coalition government’s first priorities would be to provide healthcare, education and jobs to the people of Bengal.