Those stopped from looting country are forming 'mahagathbandhan': PM

On a day when many opposition parties came together on a common platform in Kolkata, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at their proposed mahagathbandhan or grand alliance, saying it is a combine of those whom he had prevented from "looting" India and it is not against him but people of the country.

He took a dig at the opposition rally organised on Saturday by the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata as well as as at West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, without taking her name, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party has only one MLA in the state, "but still they are so afraid of us that they are saying bachao (save us)".

"The mahagathbandhan or grand alliance is not against Narendra Modi but people of India," Modi said while addressing a public function at Silvassa, the capital of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, after laying a foundation stone for a medical college.

"My actions against corruption made some people angry as I prevented them from looting public money. They have formed the mahagathbandhan," Modi said, adding that these leaders have come together out of fear.

Against the backdrop of the West Bengal government denying permission to BJP to organise yatras in West Bengal, the PM said political parties in the TMC-ruled state are not even allowed to carry out their programmes.

"Party workers are killed there during elections and they talk about saving democracy. When those involved in suffocating democracy talk of saving it, then people will say wah kya baat hai...'," he said mocking the parties opposing the BJP.

Leaders of an array of opposition parties are taking part in the 'United India Rally' in Kolkata, where TMC chief Mamata Banerjee gave a call for changing the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.