Narendra Modi on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of a third front government.

Addressing a rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds here as part of the BJP’s campaign for the Lok Sabha election, Modi urged the people of West Bengal to vote for the BJP to “usher in a change”, both in the State and the Centre.

“If you elect us in the Centre, you will get three benefits. Mamata will work for the development of the State and I will work for the development of the country. You have got Pranab Mukherjee from Bengal as the President of the country,” he remarked.

Keeping the possibilities of a post-poll alliance open, Modi did not criticise the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government.

Instead, rekindling Bengal’s hopes for the waiver of a Rs 28,000-crore loan, he said the State should be given a bailout package.

Describing the 2014 elections as one of its kind, he said: “After Independence, this is the first such election, where no political party is fighting, but the common people are fighting.

“The agenda has also been set by the common people.” The BJP has not tasted much success in the State. In the in 2009 Lok Sabha polls, it bagged only the Darjeeling constituency.

Stating that the Congress denied the PM post Pranab Mukherjee, who hails from Bengal, Modi said: “Pranab da was not made Prime Minister after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984 despite his being the senior-most leader. He was also kept out of the Cabinet.

“Later, in 2004, he was again denied the opportunity when Manmohan Singh became the Prime Minister after Sonia Gandhi declined the post.”

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