Bengal polls: PM Modi says Suvendu Adhikari’s Nandigram victory will be repeated in Bhabanipur
Telegraph | 10 April 2026
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday slammed the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal for its alleged misrule and appealed to voters to oust the TMC from power in the upcoming assembly polls.
Addressing a gathering in Haldia, the backyard of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Modi said that the ruling dispensation in the state was "pulling Bengal back".
"The country is walking on the path of progress, while TMC's 'nirmam sarkar' is pulling Bengal back. To usher in 'Viksit Bengal', it's essential that the party is removed from power," he claimed.
Modi said, "The assembly poll result in Nandigram five years ago will be repeated in Bhabanipur this time." Adhikari had defeated Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram in 2021 and is pitted against the incumbent chief minister at her bastion in south Kolkata's Bhabanipur.
Criticising the Trinamool Congress, Modi said, "Even in 100 years, the TMC cannot absolve itself of sins it committed against Bengal's youth."
Batting for a double-engine government in West Bengal, the Prime Minister told the gathering that the state "would not benefit by opposing the PM, but will profit only when a PM and a CM act in unison".
He also alleged that the "TMC cheated Bengal's youth on two counts -- destroyed the private sector and looted government posts for money".
"Investment does not come in an atmosphere of fear, but in a climate of trust that the BJP will bring in Bengal," Modi said at the industrial hub.
The prime minsiter promised the people of West Bengal of making the state self-sufficient in fisheries and the seafood sector, while highlighting that the BJP government at the Centre has set up a dedicated ministry for the welfare of the fisherfolk and allotted a record budget for them.
He accused the TMC of following a "religion-based reservation policy to secure its vote bank".
"People's huge attendance at Haldia rally despite inclement weather is an indicator of change in Bengal, and a sign of TMC's exit," the Prime Minister asserted.
Underling "six Modi guarantees" for the people, the prime minister said the BJP, once in power in the state, will replace the TMC's "reign of fear" with BJP's "trust" and make public servants accountable to citizens for their actions.
"The BJP will reopen all files on corruption and crimes committed against women in Bengal, which the TMC has suppressed," he added, spelling out his "third guarantee".
"All leaders involved in corruption will be in jail, no TMC goons can escape the clutches of law," he added as the fourth.
While pledging that government facilities and scheme benefits will be made available to all genuine citizens, Modi underlined that "infiltrators won't be allowed to stay in this country".
"Once the BJP government is formed, we will immediately implement the 7th Pay Commission in Bengal for state employees, teachers and those working in related sectors," the PM said, defining his final guarantee.
Several parts of southern Bengal, including Kolkata, have been receiving rain since morning. The showers had left the helipad in Haldia filled with sludge, adding to the delay of two hours in Modi's arrival.
The meteorological department predicted that the weather is expected to improve later in the day.
According to senior state BJP leaders, the delay is likely to have a cascading effect on the schedule of the prime minister's other two rallies in Asansol and Suri.
Haldia remains the backyard of the state's Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari and is also one of the strongest bases of the BJP in the Purba Medinipur district.
The Haldia rally assumes significance since the party seeks to retain its hold over the region, projecting Adhikari's influence in the area, which serves as one of the epicentres of the party's challenge to the TMC.
After the poll rally in Haldia, the prime minister is scheduled to address election gatherings in Paschim Bardhaman district's Asansol and Birbhum's Suri.