Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday responded to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s a ‘tight slap of democracy’ remark and said that he has immense respect for Didi and he would accept it as a blessing in all humility. Addressing a rally at Purulia in West Bengal on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi said: “I am told Didi has said she wants to slap me. Didi…I call you Didi. I respect you. Your slap will be a blessing for me.”

He, however, challenged the chief minister to also slap those who looted poor through ponzi schemes in the state. Taking on the TMC chief, the Prime Minister said: “If you (Mamata Banerjee) had the guts to slap your colleagues who stole money from the poor via chit funds, you would not be this scared.”

“If you had slapped those tolabaj then you would not have got stain on you of what is now called TTT — Trinamool Tolabaj Tax (extortionist tax).”

This week on Tuesday, the TMC chief had said that every time Prime Minister Modi referred to the TMC as a party of tolabaji or extortionists, she felt like giving him a ‘tight slap of democracy’.

This is the second time PM Modi has responded to the TMC chief in this manner. Earlier, Modi in an interview revealed that Mamata Banerjee would send him Bengali sweets and personally-selected kurtas every year. Reacting to this, the TMC chief said that she would now send sweets with pebbles inside that will break his teeth.

To this, the Prime Minister said that he would consider himself fortunate if he gets sweets made of stone or clay from this land where countless legends were born.

Prime Minister Modi and Mamata Banerjee have launched a fierce attack on each other this Lok Sabha election. The latest exchange comes ahead of polling for eight parliamentary seats which is due on May 12.