Modi blasts Mamata over violence on her home turf
Thakurnagar (WB), Feb 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a blistering attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of orchestrating violence against BJP workers, claiming she had become jittery due to people's love for his party.
Taking his battle for the Lok Sabha elections to Banerjee's turf, Modi also accused his political rivals of misleading the distressed farming community through farm loan waivers.
The prime minister also made a strong pitch for the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that seeks to accord Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who fled their countries due to religious persecution.
Addressing a well-attended event of the Scheduled Caste Matua community, where his speech was welcomed with loud cheers, Modi said, "Now I can understand why Didi (Banerjee) and her party are indulging in violence...killing innocent people. She has become jittery because of your love for us."
Calling yesterday's Budget a "historic step" for the welfare of farmers, the working and middle class, he said these sections were neglected for years after Independence.
"We have announced measures in our budget that will benefit 12 crore small farmers, 30-40 crore workmen, and three crore middle class people," he said.
There was commotion at the rally ground which prompted him to cut short his speech barely after 14 minutes.
Before the rally, the prime minister visited the Matua Thakurbari and sought the blessings of Baro Ma, the current leader of the community and widow of the founder of Matua Mahasangh Harishchandra Thakur.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
