Ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal next year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for an end to the Trinamool Congress government’s “jungle raj” and urged people to give the BJP a chance to form a “double-engine government” in the state.
Addressing a gathering in Taherpur over the phone, as his helicopter was unable to land due to low visibility, Modi also accused the TMC of opposing the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to protect “infiltrators”.
“Bihar has unanimously rejected jungle raj. Even after 20 years, it has given the NDA more seats than before. Now, we have to get freedom from the jungle raj that is going on in West Bengal. In every household, village, lane, there is only one slogan, ‘we want to live, we want BJP’. I had said that the Ganga flows from Bihar to Bengal. Bihar has paved the way for victory in Bengal,” he said.
“I saw on social media that they have put up boards saying ‘Go back, Modi’. I would have been happy if they had written ‘Go back, infiltrators’, But they are quiet on infiltrators. The infiltrators are very dear to the TMC… they protested against the SIR for the infiltrators. This is the true face of the TMC,” Modi said.
He alleged that “corruption, nepotism and appeasement of the ruling dispensation” have prevented development in the state. “We want to do a lot for West Bengal. There is no shortage of funds, no shortage of intent, and no shortage of planning for the development of West Bengal. But the government here is busy with cuts and commissions. Even today, development projects worth thousands of crores of rupees remain stalled in West Bengal… They can oppose me a hundred times, a thousand times. If they want to oppose the BJP, let them do that too. But I cannot understand why the development of West Bengal is being held hostage,” he said.
Drawing comparisons with Tripura, he asked people to give the BJP a chance in West Bengal. “Give the BJP an opportunity to come to power and then let them see what we can do… See Tripura, where the Left government destroyed the state. The people gave us an opportunity and we used that opportunity to develop the state. In West Bengal, the Left government was removed, but sadly, the TMC incorporated all the vices of the Left government and destroyed the state. West Bengal needs a double engine government,” Modi said.
Addressing people in an area dominated by the presence of Matua community members, amid growing concerns over the SIR exercise, Modi invoked Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur, religious leaders and founders of the Matua community, and hailed their contributions. “Our Matua community has always carried forward this spirit of social welfare,” he said.
Referring to the issue of infiltration, one of the BJP’s dominating poll agendas in the state, Modi alleged that “infiltrators enjoy TMC support and patronage in Bengal”. “The TMC is opposing the SIR exercise to save infiltrators from getting identified. That is that party’s true nature,” he said in this district bordering Bangladesh.
“Bengal and the Bengali language have continuously enriched the history and culture of India. Vande Mataram is one such supreme contribution… In the 19th century, Vande Mataram was the mantra for freedom from slavery. In the 21st century, we must make Vande Mataram the mantra for nation-building. We must make Vande Mataram the inspiration for a developed India,” Modi said.
With PTI inputs