In UP, Didi targets ' chhupa rustam' - Mamata accuses PM of robbing country, dares him to declare bank details

TT,Nov. 29: Mamata Banerjee today launched her foray into national politics with an anti-demonetisation rally in Lucknow, picking poll-bound Uttar Pradesh as the first stop in a staggered countrywide tour she is planning.

Warning Prime Minister Narendra Modi that his "note bandi" (blocking of notes) will invite a "vote bandi" from the people, she pleaded with the heartland state's electorate to reject the BJP in the Assembly polls due early next year.

Speaking in Hindi as part of her efforts to reach a pan-Indian audience, the Bengal chief minister lavished praise on Uttar Pradesh and its people at the rally, organised with Samajwadi Party help.

She lauded their contribution to the freedom struggle and the fight for land rights, hoping they would again provide leadership to the anti-demonetisation campaign.

" Jaago, jaago, jaago, desh ko bachana zaroori hai (Wake up, wake up, wake up, the country must be saved). Modiji, if Uttar Pradesh has made you Prime Minister, it can remove you from the post too.... Chhupa rustam bankey desh ko loot liya (You have clandestinely robbed the country)," Mamata said.

Mamata knows that an Assembly poll setback in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP had won 71 of 80 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, could make the 2019 general election a stiff challenge for Modi.

"Roll back demonetisation or go back, Modiji. The Prime Minister is giving only bhashan(speeches) while he has failed to give ration to the people," she said to loud cheers from a crowd of 5,000-odd.

Although the crowd, marshalled apparently at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's instructions, was nothing like the lakhs she is used to addressing in Bengal, Trinamul sources said Mamata was "satisfied" with the start to her " Bharat parikrama".

A senior Trinamul Lok Sabha member claimed Mamata had been able to generate considerable interest across the country even at this early stage of her "national career".

"The attention she has been able to draw, the number of people she has been able to get thinking, the level of interest everyone is taking in every word she says on demonetisation - these are to be kept in mind at the moment," the MP said.

He argued the crowd count would grow once people got used to the idea of Mamata holding rallies outside Bengal. "Trinamul too will do more about it as her national identity takes shape," he said.

Trinamul sources said it was too early to call the Samajwadis an ally but the fight against demonetisation had brought the two parties closer than ever.

Akhilesh, who had received Mamata at Lucknow airport last evening, skipped the rally but lent his party's name and support. He sent senior colleagues such as rural development minister Arvind Singh Gope and Rajya Sabha MP Kiranmoy Nanda, who had been a minister in the erstwhile Left government in Bengal, to the event.

"What matters is that she is satisfied. The Samajwadi Party did a lot to help. The Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Sharad Yadav faction of the Janata Dal United are also helping out with tomorrow's Patna rally. It's going in the right direction," a Trinamul Rajya Sabha member said.

Mamata dared Modi to arrest her and alleged BJP leaders had "transferred their money to foreign banks" and the party "bought land across the country just before the currency notes were demonetised".

To rebut such charges, Modi has reportedly asked BJP lawmakers to submit statements of their bank account transactions between November 8 and December 31 to party president Amit Shah on January 1.

But Mamata said that Modi and Shah should first declare their own bank account details.

She later tweeted: "Why only account details from November 8? Just 3 weeks. Why not last 2 and 1/2 years all details? PM Ji you think you alone are intelligent and the rest are...??? After your 21 days of note bandi, the whole country is ghar bandi, so why this farce?"