Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday promised six guarantees to the people if the BJP wins the upcoming West Bengal assembly polls, criticizing the Mamata Banerjee-led government for alleged misrule and urging voters to remove the Trinamool Congress (TMC) from power.
Speaking at a rally in Haldia, the stronghold of Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari, Modi said the ruling state government was "pulling Bengal back" and claimed a BJP government would replace the TMC’s rule of ‘Bhoy’ (fear) with one of ‘Bharosa’ (trust), while making all public servants accountable to the people.
Modi also pledged that the BJP will reopen all files on corruption and crimes against women "that the TMC has suppressed", and all leaders involved in graft will be jailed.
"Government facilities will be made available to all genuine citizens, and infiltrators will not be allowed to stay in this country," Modi told the gathering. He also promised that once the BJP forms a government in the state, "we will implement 7th Pay Commission for state employees, teachers and those working in related sectors".
Targeting the TMC dispensation over the development issue, Modi said, "While the country is walking on the path of progress, the TMC's 'nirmam sarkar' (cruel government) is pulling Bengal back."
"To usher in a 'Viksit Bengal', it is essential that the party is removed from power," the prime minister said.
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 and accused the TMC of following a "religion-based reservation policy to secure its vote bank."
"The huge attendance at the rally despite inclement weather is an indicator of change in Bengal, and a sign of TMC's exit," the prime minister asserted.
Referring to Adhikari's win against Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly polls, Modi exuded confidence that the poll result in Nandigram five years ago will be repeated in Bhabanipur this time.
Adhikari is pitted against the incumbent chief minister at her bastion in south Kolkata's Bhabanipur this time.
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 in Haldia that the state "would not benefit by opposing the PM, but will profit only when a PM and a CM act in unison."
He promised the people of West Bengal that the BJP would make 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.
