KOLKATA: Escalating attacks on the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reiterated that "infiltrators" will have to get out of the country.
While addressing BJP election rallies in Haldia, Asansol, and Suri, the Prime Minister strongly criticised the ruling Trinamool Congress on several issues. He raised concerns about law and order, alleged infiltration leading to demographic changes, corruption, and syndicate raj. He also highlighted problems such as unemployment, the closure of industrial units, coal smuggling scam, and issues related to women’s safety.
“Infiltrators will be pushed out of the country after the BJP comes to power in Bengal,” Modi said, adding, “Trinamool Congress has made the state a factory of infiltrators for their vote bank politics. They prepare bogus documents so that the number of infiltrators can rise.”
"Youths in Bengal are being cheated on two fronts by the Trinamool Congress -- destroying the private sector and looting the governmnt posts for money," he alleged. He further said, "They arrange jobs for infiltrators even if little scopes are there."
He accused the Trinamool of following a "religion-based reservation policy to secure its vote bank". He slammed the Mamata Banerjee government in the state for its alleged misrule, and appealed to voters to oust the Trinamool from power in the upcoming assembly polls.
In Haldia, an industrial town in the state and a stronghold of the Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who has been fielded by the BJP from both the Nandigram constituency in East Midnapore and Bhabanipur in south Kolkata, the Prime Minister said that the ruling government was “holding Bengal back”.
"The country is walking on the path of progress, while TMC's 'nirmam sarkar' (cruel government) is pulling Bengal back. To usher in 'Viksit Bengal', it's essential that the party is removed from power," he claimed.
"Same thing that happened in Nandigram assembly five years ago will be repeated in Bhabanipur, and with this, real change in power will take place in Bengal in the upcoming assembly elections,” he said. In the 2021 assembly elections, Adhikari had defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram by a margin of nearly 2,000. He will fight against the TMC supremo from Bhabanipur, the hottest constituency in the state.
Criticising the ruling party, 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 together."
"Investment does not come in an atmosphere of fear, but in a climate of trust that the BJP will bring in Bengal," Modi said. The Prime Minister promised the people of West Bengal that the state would be 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.
"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. He also alleged that TMC is unleashing a reign of terror, corruption, syndicate raj, cut money, crimes against women and closure of industries in the state.
"BJP will file a case on corruption and atrocities against women during the Trinamool Congress regime in Bengal. No Trinamool hooligans, leaders and ministers involved in corruption and crimes will be spared. Everybody will be put behind bars as per the law after the BJP forms a government in the state,” the Prime Minister said.
"Factories here in Haldia industrial town have been lying locked during the past 20 years. Youths are not getting jobs and going to Andaman, Odisha and other states, leaving Bengal. Trinamool Congress has brought down growth index in terms of all parameters of development as compared with other states ruled by the BJP across the country," he added.
Trinamool does not even implement central government schemes prefixed with PM, Modi said. "They change the names of schemes, in which the letters 'PM' are mentioned. The fact is that they are jealous of the prefix PM. As a result, common people of Bengal are being deprived of getting benefits of the national schemes," he said.
In Asansol, he also blamed the TMC government for ruining the once-thriving industrial belt in Durgapur and Asansol areas. The Centre has allocated around Rs 45,000 crore for industrial revival in the region, he claimed.
At the Suri poll rally in Birbhum district, Modi addresses the incident of gherao of judicial officers, including thee women, at Kaliachak BDO office in Malda district and said, "Trinamool is unleashing reign of terror in the state, which is reeling under lawlessness."
Underlining the 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.
While pledging that government facilities and scheme benefits will be made available to all 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.
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.