Bengal: Modi whets BJP’s election pitch

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.

“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 LoP Suvendu Adhikari.

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.

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.”

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.