West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (L) and BJP national president Amit Shah.

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee shifted the goalposts in her war against the Narendra Modi government by targeting BJP president Amit Shah instead of the Prime Minister against whom she had been rallying all these days over demonetization and GST.

"I favour Narendra Modi, not Amit Shah. I don't blame the PM. Why should I blame him? His party should take care of it," the West Bengal chief minister said in an interview to a television channel. Her focus was on the "environment of super dictatorship in the country" in which a party president was meddling in government affairs.

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Saying so, the Bengal CM heaped praises on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "He is also a BJP man... but he was very balanced and impartial. We worked under him and never faced any problem," Mamata said. Coming back to the present, she blamed the BJP and not the PM for all the ills. "But why are we facing problems today? I do not want to blame the prime minister but his party should take care. Why is his party creating problems for everyone?" the CM said.

The sudden change of stance took the opposition by surprise, when it came from none other than Mamata, the new face of the opposition in the country. The Bengal CM took exception to the BJP president's presence in an official meeting conducted by a Union minister. "Everybody is scared. Super dictatorship is going on. How can a party president take a meeting of ministers? Who is the PM, Modi or Shah," said Mamata Banerjee.

However, this didn't stop Mamata from sending out the message of change at the Centre in 2019. "The Opposition parties have come on a platform and there will be change (at the Centre) in 2019. We are waiting for the change... No front has been formed as yet, but the opposition parties have come on a platform and have started working. Wait for six months. Things will be clear," the CM said during an interaction 'Rising Bengal 2017'.

