WB polls a freedom movement from 35-yrs of oppression: Modi

“It was not just some election,but a movement for freedom by the people who want to be free from the shackles of 35-year-long vicious cycle of oppression,” said Modi,who yesterday participated in an election campaign in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal.

The chief minister said that in West Bengal people purchase agricultural produce like potatoes from farmers for daily use only.

“I explained to farmers there about what happens in case of their counterparts in Gujarat,who also cultivate potatoes. A farmer in Banaskantha (Gujarat) cultivates potatoes which are sold in markets of Canada where it gets transformed into chips and is sold across the world. This is where government figures in,” Modi said.

He told the GCCI that in Jalpaiguri potatoes are sold only if people come and buy them otherwise they rot.

During his election campaign in West Bengal ,Modi yesterday alleged that the Left Front government had not done any development work or set up any industry in West Bengal in its 34 year-rule.

“So many people from West Bengal are working in different industries in Gujarat. They have come to Gujarat because there are no jobs for them in West Bengal as there is no industry,” Modi had said.

The north Bengal districts of Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling have so many tea gardens. But the Left Front government has failed to set up any industry in the area,the senior BJP leader said.

Many villages in West Bengal don’t have electricity or metalled roads unlike most of the villages in Gujarat,the Gujarat Chief Minister claimed.