KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of maintaining a deliberate silence at his election campaign rally in Cooch Behar district on Sunday regarding the threat issued by Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, who said that Pakistan would retaliate with a strike on Kolkata if India tried to stage any false-flag operation against Pakistan in the future.
“How could a Pakistani minister speak about targeting Kolkata? Why did the Prime Minister not say anything about this when he came here on Sunday? Why couldn’t he say that strict action would be taken against this? Why was he silent? Why hasn’t action been taken against Pakistan?
"Who made their Pakistan minister say such things? We demand an investigation in the matter. If they talk about attacking Kolkata, we won’t accept it, ” the Chief Minister said at an election campaign rally in Nadia district on Monday, ahead of the two-phase Assembly polls in the state later this month.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister also cautioned that on the counting day on May 4, Trinamool Congress workers should not be misled by false rumours in the early hours of counting, suggesting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates are ahead in the majority of the Assembly constituencies in West Bengal.