ASANSOL: Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a forceful case for ‘ Team India ’ to achieve greater cooperation between the Centre and states here on Sunday after chief minister Mamata Banerjee, a trenchant opponent of the NDA’s one-year rule, made a similar pitch in her address calling for development to continue along with politics.“Political interests cannot be bigger than national interest,” said Modi. “Henceforth, for the economic development of the country, the states and the Centre will act together and show the world the strength of Team India,” he said, adding, let bygones (read: political attacks) of the 2014 election campaign be bygones.In his 25-minute speech at the Polo Ground in Asansol, about 200km from Kolkata, Modi said: “I have tried to bring cooperative and competitive federalism in the Centre-state relationship because I have served for long as CM and know the problems of states. In my Team India, there are 30 pillars or 30 states. In Niti Ayog , the PM and CMs are members of the same Team India.”To reinforce his case, he said the Rs 3 lakh crore from coal auction will go to states for development.Before the PM spoke, Mamata said the Centre and the state will work together for the economic uplift of the Asansol-Durgapur region, the state’s oldest and largest industrial belt. “If the Centre and state work together, the country will be strengthened,” she said.The PM said the commercial production of 2.9 million tonnes per annum integrated greenfield Iisco steel plant at Burnpur is a good example of Team India at work.Enclave dispute: Modi praises DidiPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday acknowledged Mamata Banerjee’s role in resolving India-Bangladesh border disputes. “All political parties, including Mamataji’s, helped in passing the Chhitmahal (enclave) bill, thus solving the long-pending border dispute,” Modi said.Modi said that the main focus of his government was to “look east”. He added that the country’s second green revolution will take place in eastern India, which has ample land and water. The western part of the country is economically strong, and if eastern India has to be on a par, Bengal and Kolkata has to lead, he stressed. “Economic revival of Bengal is a necessity, as it will help forge stronger relationships with far-east Asian countries,” Modi said.He also expressed confidence that in the next 10 years, there will be a “new eastern India” rich in minerals and natural resources — specifically Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, among other states.Before Modi’s address, the chief minister said: “Today, I will inaugurate a Rs 200-crore building of Kazi Nazrul University in Asansol, a Rs 90-crore 350-bed multi speciality hospital in Asansol, a four-lane highway from NH2 to Burnpur, a stadium and a project to expand the old GT Road.”Mamata claimed that with more such investments coming up in Burnpur and Durgapur by Sail, the industrial scenario will change further in the next 10 years “If the Centre and the state work together, the country will be strengthened,” she added, adding that investments were also coming up at the Panagarh Industrial Park, NTPC’s power plant in Katwa, the Reliance cement plant in Raghunathpur and at other places.The Prime Minister also took a dig at the previous government’s performance, vis-à-vis that of his own. “In the first few months of the last year, you read only corruption stories — coal, spectrum, Commonwealth Games, etc. But have you heard about a single such incident in newspapers today since the past one year that NDA has come to power?” he asked.