Kolkata:: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday sharpened the BJP’s poll pitch in West Bengal, bringing “industrial decay” and “infiltration menace” to the forefront of his campaign discourse while offering a “six-point guarantee” to the people as an antidote to the “sins” committed by the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC dispensation.
Speaking at three rallies in the state, the venues of two of which formed the state’s industrial hotspots and the third comprising its tribal belt, the PM remarked that the “vessel of Trinamool’s sins was full” and advocated for a Trinamool-mukt Bengal to ensure the state’s development.
“JinhoneBangal ko lootahai, sab ka chunchunkehisabkiyajayga (All those who looted Bengal will be individually identified and made to pay),” Modi said at the port city of Haldia in Purba Medinipur district, while assuring the people of rescuing the state from the existing “reign of fear” (Bhoy) and creating an atmosphere of all-pervading “trust” in law and governance (Bharosa), once BJP assumes power.
“Investments cannot be ushered in when an atmosphere of fear prevails. It can only happen when there is trust,” Modi said, canvassing for BJP candidates in the backyard of LoPSuvendu Adhikari.
Modi referred to the Mamata Banerjee administration as “Nirmam (cruel) sarkar”, an antonym to the chief minister’s name.
Underlining “six Modi guarantees” for the people, the Prime Minister said the BJP, after coming to power, will replace the TMC’s “reign of fear” with BJP’s “trust”.
Modi pledged to bring about changes in the governance “system” and make public servants accountable to citizens for their actions, stating his second guarantee.
“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, irrespective of their positions in government, who are involved in corruption, will be in jail,” he added as the fourth.
While pledging that government facilities and scheme benefits will be made available to all refugees who took shelter in India as per provisions of law, Modi asserted that “infiltrators won’t be allowed to stay in this country”, stating his fifth guarantee.
“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,” he said, defining his final guarantee.
Citing BJP’s 2021 state election performance in Purba Medinipur, where it bagged 15 of the 16 assembly seats, Modi claimed the state is now following the path shown by the district five years ago.
“The Nandigram results from last time will be repeated in Bhabanipur,” he said, referring to Adhikari’s victory over Mamata Banerjee in 2021.
Adhikari is pitted against the incumbent CM at her bastion in Bhabanipur this time.
In his bid to take the wind away from the sails of Banerjee who alleged that the BJP would impose restrictions on Bengalis on consumption of fish, Modi alleged that the TMC government failed to enhance production of fish despite its high demand.
“Yet, Bengal imports fish from other states. In the last 15 years, the state has taken no worthwhile step to enhance supply and attain self-sufficiency in fish production,” he said.
The PM promised the people that the BJP would make the state self-reliant in fisheries and the seafood sector.
Later, while addressing a rally in Asansol, a region known for its premium coal production and mining activities, the PM assured abolition of “cut-money culture and syndicate Raj of the TMC” in Bengal, alleging that mafia Raj spanning across illegal extraction of coal and sand has cast a stranglehold on the people of the state.
“A regime change in Bengal is now cast in stone,” the Prime Minister said, adding, “This is not merely an election to change the government, it’s an opportunity to return industrial prowess to Asansol.”
Modi referred to the once thriving industrial belt in Asansol where manufacturing units cutting across premium products held base, and said, “Investment has taken flight from Asansol’s landscape. Only the BJP’s double-engine government can help rectify the scenario and fill up the void.”
Speaking in Suri, the district headquarters of Birbhum in his final rally of the day, Modi accused the TMC of unleashing ‘maha jungle raj’ by referring to the Bagtui village carnage of 2022, in which around 10 women and children were burnt alive in the district.
He intensified the BJP’s infiltration plank for the upcoming polls and referred to last week’s gherao of judicial officers in Malda to slam the TMC administration and reiterate his conviction of getting the country rid of “illegal entrants”.
“I stand before you today to make this promise: Once there is a change of guard in state power following these elections, I will initiate a special inquiry against the facilitators of infiltration in this state and put them behind bars,” Modi declared.
“The TMC slogan of ‘Maa-Mati-Manush’ (mother, land, people) is now an empty rhetoric. While Ma is crying and Manush is reeling under the fear of TMC goons, land encroachment by infiltrators under the current dispensation has reached dangerous proportions,” he added.
Accusing the PM of “misrepresenting facts” on his claims on fish production in Bengal, Banerjee hit back at the PM alleging people are not allowed to eat non-vegetarian food in BJP-ruled states.
“I heard that PM said that there is no fish production in Bengal, while Bihar is producing more and exporting. But you do not allow people to eat fish in Bihar. Here we purchase fish from markets and eat,” the TMC supremo said.
Earlier, Bengal used to import fish from Andhra Pradesh, but that has stopped, Banerjee said, urging Modi to keep track of these developments.
“You are uttering whatever your party people are whispering in your ears. You do not allow people to eat fish, eggs and meat in Rajasthan, Bihar, and UP. Shops (selling such items) are being shut down,” Banerjee claimed.
