SINGUR (WB): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday mounted a sharp, election-season attack on the TMC government in West Bengal, accusing it of “playing with national security” by protecting infiltrators for vote-bank politics and asserting that ending the ruling party’s “maha jungle raj” was vital to restore law and order, development and investor confidence in the state.
With the 294-member West Bengal Assembly polls due in about three months, Modi framed the electoral contest as a direct battle between what he described as “the TMC’s maha jungle raj and the BJP’s good governance”, insisting that infiltrators who had settled in the state using forged documents must be identified and sent back.
Earlier in the day, Modi, who is on the second leg of his weekend engagements in Bengal, launched development projects worth over Rs 830 crore in the state and flagged off three Amrit Bharat trains connecting Kolkata with other parts of the country.
Addressing a rally at Singur in Hooghly district, a site etched in Bengal’s political memory following the 2008 agitation against land acquisition that forced Tata Motors to pull out its Nano car project, the prime minister urged voters to back the BJP’s “double-engine government” model, arguing that industry and investment would return to Bengal only when law and order improved, something he said was possible only under BJP rule.
“The TMC is playing with the security of West Bengal and the country. They protect infiltrators because they form their vote bank,” Modi said, alleging that illegal immigration along Bengal’s borders had been allowed to flourish under the state government’s watch.
Stressing infiltration for the second consecutive day, Modi said border fencing had been stalled for years and fake documents were being prepared with political patronage. “It is time to completely stop infiltration and identify and send back those who entered using forged papers. A BJP government would ensure this,” he said.
He alleged that despite repeated appeals, the TMC government had failed to cooperate with the Centre on border fencing. “For the last 11 years, the central government has repeatedly written to the state government saying barbed-wire fencing must be erected along West Bengal’s borders and land is required for it. But the TMC has shown no concern,” he said, accusing the ruling party of helping those who prepare fake documents for infiltrators.
“The TMC can go to any extent to protect infiltrators by giving them shelter and creating fake documents,” Modi said, urging voters to back the BJP to “secure borders, restore law and order and put Bengal back on the path of growth”.
Sharpening the battle lines and setting the tone for the upcoming assembly elections, where the BJP is the principal challenger to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s TMC, Modi called for a change of guard, saying it was necessary to oust the TMC’s “maha jungle raj” and bring in a government committed to good governance.
“Shouldn’t such a government be punished for acting against the interests of the people of Bengal?” he asked, claiming that voters across the country were increasingly voting out governments that blocked development and welfare delivery.
Even as the BJP sought to sharpen its industrialisation narrative by choosing Singur, Modi stressed that restoring law and order was the first step towards creating an investment-friendly environment.
“Investment will come only when the law and order situation improves. Syndicate tax and mafia rule will end only under the BJP. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he said, alleging that rioters, syndicates and mafias enjoyed a free run in Bengal under TMC rule.
He claimed Bengal’s industrial decline was rooted in “syndicate raj”, alleging that even the smallest TMC leaders had begun treating areas as their fiefdoms.
Accusing the TMC of being “enemies of women, youth and farmers”, Modi claimed daughters were unsafe in the state and the future of the youth was being compromised. He also alleged that the state government was deliberately blocking central schemes out of political hostility.
“If they have a problem with Modi or the BJP, that is understandable, but they are taking revenge on the people,” the PM said.
Claiming that the crowd’s enthusiasm reflected Bengal’s resolve for “real poriborton” after 15 years of what he termed TMC ‘maha jungle raj’, Modi led supporters in raising the slogan, “Paltano darkar, chai BJP sarkar” (There is a need for change, we want a BJP government).
The TMC hit back, accusing the Prime Minister of “letting loose a pack of lies” during the rally. The party claimed that contrary to Modi’s assertions, no large number of Bangladeshi or Rohingya infiltrators had been detected during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
“For the past 11 years, Modi-ji has been letting loose the same pack of lies about infiltrators, about Bangladeshis and Rohingyas without explaining how he arrived at this conclusion,” TMC state president Joy Prakash Majumdar said.
Before the rally, he inaugurated the Jayrambati-Barogopinathpur-Maynapur rail line, flagged off a train between Maynapur and Jayrambati, and laid the foundation stone for the Extended Port Gate System, including an Inland Water Transport terminal and a road over bridge, at Balagarh in the district. (PTI)