Lok Sabha Election results: Narendra Modi makes big dent in Bengal as Mamata Banerjee pays for pandering to minorities
Firstpost“No Congress, no Bam, zor se bolo Jai Sri Ram.” That’s the slogan reverberating in West Bengal where the BJP is poised to bag 16-odd seats. But the impact of this “minor” incident was felt afterwards when none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled this event and chanted “Jai Sri Ram” at a public rally held after the incident, while daring Banerjee to arrest him. Modi’s man Friday, Amit Shah, had also followed suit, daring the West Bengal government as he threw a direct challenge at the TMC supremo. In fact, the BJP’s rise in a state, where secularism was metaphorically worn on the sleeve as a badge of honour, is attributed to Banerjee’s initial pandering to the minorities through stipend for imams and preventing Durga idols from being taken for immersion post afternoon if Vijaya Dashami clashed with Muharram.