CM Mamata Banerjee recites Chandipath at Nandigram, says `do not dare to play Hindu card with me`

Mamata Banerjee said, `Singur movement took place months before the Nandigram movement. I had already completed 26 days of hunger strike against Singur land acquisition in December 2006. It was then that Nandigram happened in 2007. The Singur movement provided much-needed momentum to the Nandigram movement.`

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday (March 9) recited Chandipath as she launched her poll campaign for the Nandigram seat asserting that no one should dare to play `Hindu card` against her. In Nandigram, she is contesting against her aide-turned- rival Suvendu Adhikari.

Addressing a public meeting in Nandigram, Mamata Banerjee said, "Those who are talking about 70:30 ratio should know that I read `Chandi path` every morning before leaving home. I am the daughter of a Hindu family. Do not dare to play the Hindu card with me. I challenge them to have a competition with me in `Chandipath`." 

Mamata chanted shlokas of `Chandipath` on the stage--"Om Jayanti Mangala Kali Bhadrakali Kapalini, Durga Kshama Shiva Dhatri Swaha Swadha Namoastutte....", adding "They are insulting the sacred Nandigram movement and playing the communal card. People of Nandigram will make BJP `April fool` on April 1 during the polling." 

On the insider versus outsider debate, she said, "Some people are calling me an outsider in Nandigram. I was born and brought up in the neighbouring Birbhum district. Today I have become an outsider. And, those coming from Gujarat are now insiders?"

She further said, "If you do not want me to file the nomination, I will not. But, if you consider me your daughter, then I will move ahead with filing my nomination." 

The West Bengal Chief Minister, who has been representing Bhawanipur constituency, will contest this Assembly election from Nandigram where she will file a nomination on March 10. Banerjee visited Chandi Temple in Nandigram and then visited Shamshabad Mazar in Nandigram. 

Taking the fight to Adhikari's backyard, Banerjee said the Nandigram movement wouldn't have got the momentum it did had the Singur anti-land acquisition stir not taken place before that.

She further said, "Singur movement took place months before the Nandigram movement. I had already completed 26 days of hunger strike against Singur land acquisition in December 2006. It was then that Nandigram happened in 2007. The Singur movement provided much-needed momentum to the Nandigram movement." 

Banerjee said those claiming the legacy of the movement should not forget how she had been with the masses of the area risking her life.

Earlier on Saturday, BJP released its first list of 57 candidates for the polls and fielded Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram against Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee.

Adhikari, once a close aide of Banerjee, has switched to BJP in December last year. West Bengal is likely to witness a triangular contest this time with TMC, Congress-Left alliance and the BJP in the fray.

Notably, West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. 

(With Agency Inputs)