Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday virtually addressed the public at Taherpur in Bengal’s Nadia district after his helicopter was unable to land due to low visibility.
Hitting out at the ‘jungle raj’ in Bengal, PM Modi said, “Bihar has unanimously rejected jungle raj. Even after 20 years, it has given the BJP-NDA more seats than before. Now, the jungle raj that is going on in West Bengal, we have to get freedom from that. Now in every household, village, every lane and alley, there is only one slogan, ‘We want to live, we want BJP.’ I had said the River Ganga flows from Bihar into Bengal. Bihar has paved the way for the victory in Bengal.”
Criticising the ruling TMC, the prime minister said, “I saw on social media that they (TMC) have put up boards saying ‘Go back Modi’, I would have been happy if they had instead written ‘Go back infiltrators’, but… the infiltrators are very dear to the TMC, and it is they who protested against SIR (to protect) the infiltrators. This is the true face of the TMC.”
Public waits for PM Modi at Netaji Park Taherpur Ranaghat. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)
Modi also hit out at the TMC for ‘stalling development’ in Bengal, “We want to do a lot for Bengal. There is no shortage of funds, no shortage of intent, and no shortage of planning for the development of West Bengal. But here, there is a government that is busy only with ‘cuts and commissions’. Even today, development projects worth thousands of crores of rupees remain stalled in West Bengal.”
The prime minister said the TMC “can oppose me a hundred times, a thousand times. If they want to oppose the BJP, let them do that too. But I cannot understand why the development of West Bengal is being held hostage.”
Drawing a comparison with Tripura, PM Modi said, “The Left government destroyed Tripura, the public gave us an opportunity, and we used that opportunity to develop the state. In Bengal, too, the Left Government was removed, but sadly, the TMC… destroyed Bengal. Bengal needs a double-engine government.”
In a message to the electorally significant Matua community, PM Modi said, “Our Matua community has always carried forward the spirit of social welfare. Shri Harichand Thakur showed us the essence of action, Shri Guruchand Thakur put pen to paper, and Boroma gave everything through her boundless motherhood. I bow my head in reverence to all these great saints.”
Talking about the contribution of Bengal and the Bengali language in enriching India’s culture, Modi said, “Vande Mataram is one such supreme contribution. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, the entire nation is celebrating. Recently, the glory of Vande Mataram was also sung in the Parliament of India. This land of West Bengal is the birthplace of the immortal song ‘Vande Mataram’… Through Vande Mataram, Rishi Bankim Chandra infused a new consciousness into enslaved India. In the 19th century, Vande Mataram was the mantra for freedom from slavery. In the 21st century, we must make Vande Mataram the mantra for nation-building. We must make Vande Mataram the inspiration for a ‘Developed India’.”
The prime minister also offered his condolences to the families of the four victims who lost their lives after being hit by a train on their way to attend his rally earlier in the day.
