‘Goli’, ‘dead miscreants’, ‘bulldozer’ on Himanta, Rajnath, Yogi lips
Times of India | 21 April 2026
Kolkata: "Bulldozer", "bullets" and "dead miscreants" analogies figured in the speeches of BJP's central netas who campaigned in poll-bound Bengal on Sunday and Monday.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma's "bullets for a bullet" rhetoric was matched by Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, who referred to perpetrators of violence landing up in jail or dead after BJP forms govt in the state. This coincided with Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath bringing in the "bulldozer" analogy to make his point.
Addressing a rally at Naxalbari in Jalpaiguri on Sunday, Sarma said: "If TMC fires a bullet at me, I can fire two towards them before I die. I am not someone who is afraid of anyone."
Claiming that madrasas have closed down in Assam, he added: "In Assam I have told Muslims that I don't want their votes. I go to them and ask them to shut down madrasas. I have closed 600 madrasas. I receive threats but I am not afraid. If Sanatan is with me, nobody can touch me."
Singh, campaigning at Birbhum's Sainthia, said on Monday: "Goonde badmash ya to ghar me ghoos jayenge, ya jailon me honge, ya upar chale jayenge" (goons will either get inside their homes, or in jail or dead). Referring to incidents of violence and intimidation in Bengal, he added, "I have come here to tell you that there is nothing to fear. After a BJP govt is formed in the state, everyone will be straightened up. There will be politics of justice and humanity."
Claiming that BJP will establish the rule of law in Bengal, Singh pitched happiness in a BJP-governed state against appeasement in Bengal. "We don't want tushtikaran (appeasement), we want santushtikaran (happiness)," he said.
Adityanath, who has followed a "bulldozer justice" in UP to smash properties of criminals, gangsters and rioters, said: "There is no goonda or mafia in Uttar Pradesh. We have used bulldozers to crush the bones of the mafia." He was addressing a rally at Pingla in West Midnapore on Monday.
"We have around 25 crore people in Uttar Pradesh but not a single person can be seen offering prayers on roads, nor can anyone arrange iftar on the streets. Everyone, irrespective of caste and religion, is entitled to homes, ration, land, pension and other civic amenities," he said.
Singh and Adityanath referred to the need for hard-line governance in Bengal.