Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Thursday accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal of holding on to power through acts of violence and blocking the schemes of the Centre from reaching the people of the state.

Speaking at a massive gathering in Purulia district as part of the party’s ‘Jan Sampark Abhiyan’, Shah said, “If the TMC thinks that they will remain in power through a sustained campaign of violence then I assure them that the blood of our workers will not go to waste and their government won’t last for long.”

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Drawing attention to the political violence in the state, which was witnessed recently during the Panchayat elections, Shah said that only bomb-making factories are running successfully in the state.

“Bengal didn’t develop but the goons of TMC developed,” he said.

In the rural polls held in May, the BJP made significant gains in this part of the state.

Addressing the gathering in Lakhda village, Shah said, “TMC is blocking development schemes of the Modi government.”

“I came here to let people know about the Modi government’s initiatives for the poor in the country. I distributed the documents of those records, printed in Bengali. We are trying to deliver door to door message about how this government has tried to reach out to every household in the country in the last four years,” said Shah.

“Under the UPA government, the 13th Finance Commission gave West Bengal only Rs 1,32,000 crore to West Bengal while, in the 14th Finance Commission, the BJP led government gave Rs 3,60,000 crore for the development of West Bengal,” he added.

On the second day of his two-day Bengal tour, Shah said that the BJP has set a target to meet nearly one crore families in the country.

“I have come to Purulia as part of our party’s ‘Jan Sampark Abhiyan’ and have visited five houses in the village to inaugurate the initiative here,” he said referring to the nationwide campaign to highlight the success of the NDA regime in the last four years.

Earlier in the day, Shah visited the famous tantrik temple in Tarapith, Birbum district. Shah offered a Banarasi saree, fruits and a garland to the deity.

The BJP chief, accompanied by state party president Dilip Ghosh and BJP’s National Secretary Rahul Sinha, also met the local party leaders and activists in Birbhum.

Read More: Amit Shah Bengal visit: BJP president offers puja at Tarapith temple

Shah who is on a two day trip to Bengal, held a string of meetings with the party’s election committee, social media cell and senior state leaders on Wednesday.

He will also meet the bereaved family members of the three BJP activists from Purulia who were allegedly killed after the rural poll results.

He had on Wednesday also addressed a group of intellectuals from the state on the occasion of Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s 180th birth anniversary.

At the event, Shah accused the Congress of deliberately promoting the first two stanzas of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Vande Mataram to appease minorities and claimed this was mainly responsible for Partition.

“Many people blamed British and Khilafat movement for the country’s partition but it was actually Congress’ minority appeasement politics that was reflected in its approach to Vande Mataram,” he said in his speech.