Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the West Bengal government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for throttling democracy in the state by encouraging syndicates to carry on their nefarious activities.
Addressing a public rally in West Midnapore district of the state, the PM said that the real face of ‘Ma Mati Manush’ is for everyone to see, referring to the popular slogan of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party.
“Nothing can happen in West Bengal without the permission of this syndicate. Even doing ‘Puja’ has become difficult here,” the PM said.
Slamming the West Bengal government for the condition of the state, the PM said that “no hospital, company, school or road can be constructed without paying tribute to the syndicate”.
“Bengal’s condition today is worse than it was in the decades of Communist rule,” the PM said.
“Dalit BJP workers in Bengal were killed. Democracy was bloodied,” the PM said referring to the deaths of two supporters in Purulia and Murshidabad in June and early July.
He thanked the people for extending their support to the BJP in spite of the “atmosphere of violence” witnessed during the Panchayat elections in the state.
The saffron brigade has made steady inroads in various districts of the state and has emerged as the main opposition party in the West Bengal after the recent panchayat elections and bypolls.
At the same time, Modi also highlighted the achievements of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying that his government is working to double the income of farmers by 2022.
“My government is your government; it is a government of farmers. Our government worked for farmers… from quality seeds to market, it is important to have warehouse to save the produce,” he said.
Exhorting the TMC government to work for farmers, he said, “I hope the West Bengal government will take required steps to create infrastructure for farmers. We want our farmers to use latest technology.”
On Sunday, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh had said that people from several districts including East and West Midnapore, Bankura, Burdwan, Hooghly and Howrah will attend the PM’s rally
“We are expecting it will be mega rally. People are fed up of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s administration and now want a real change. So we think a large number of people will assemble at the meeting in West Midnapore,” said Ghosh.
Modi’s rally at Midnapore was held just about a fortnight after BJP national president Amit Shah’s 29 June public meeting in Purulia district.
The party, which has just two MPs from Bengal, is making an all-out effort to increase its Lok Sabha tally from the state.
According to state BJP sources, the party is putting special emphasis on the tribal Jangalmahal area where the party won sizeable seats in the last panchayat polls.