Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday attacked West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), saying that it was turning Bengali Hindus into a minority as it does not consider them as their vote bank.
“Over the last few decades, the demography has changed in many areas of Bengal. Bengali Hindus are being turned into a minority. The TMC is opposed to giving citizenship to Hindus because, for them, their vote bank is paramount. They do not consider Hindus as their vote bank because they [Hindus] do not add to their criminal gangs.”
He said the TMC opposed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) so that infiltrators are not removed from the voter roll. ‘They are not even ready to delete the names of dead voters,” Modi said at a rally in Kolkata ahead of assembly elections in the state likely next month.
Modi earlier laid the foundation stones and inaugurated multiple infrastructure and development projects worth around ₹18680 crore.
TMC’s Rajya Sabha member Saayoni Ghosh hit back, asking does Modi or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have any narrative other than Hindu-Muslim, India-Pakistan, and crematoriums-burial grounds?
State minister Bratya Basu said over 6.3 million names have been deleted from the electoral roll, and many more are under adjudication in the state. “How many Rohingyas and Bangladeshis were found? How many infiltrators were there?”
Modi slammed the TMC over the alleged protocol lapse at an event President Droupadi Murmu attended last week. He said that the TMC is unable to accept the huge respect a tribal woman was receiving. “President Murmu of the adivasi [tribal] community came to West Bengal to attend an international conference on Santhals. But the arrogant and ruthless TMC government messed it up. …The President of India had to express her pain.”
Ghosh maintained that Murmu had come for a political campaign. “It was unprecedented.” Gosh asked when women were raped and paraded naked in Manipur, did it not come to Modi’s mind that they were also tribal women?
Modi said the TMC came to power with its “ma (mother), mati (soil), manush (people)” slogan. “Today, mothers are crying, soil is being looted, and the people of Bengal are forced to leave the state. Infiltration is posing a big threat to Bengal’s roti (food), beti (daughters), and mati (soil).”
He said in most of the crimes, one or the other criminal is either a TMC leader or associated with the party. “The TMC government openly stands beside the criminals and tries to shield them. This attitude has resulted in increased attacks on women.”
Modi said the TMC government has a single agenda. “They would not work themselves, and neither will they allow anyone to work. Until they get their cut money, they do not allow any benefits to reach the poor people. That is why they have applied brakes on the Centre’s schemes,” Modi said.
He said TMC’s hooliganism is nearing its end. “The countdown for the ouster of the TMC-government has started. Today, the bugle for a new revolution in Bengal has been sounded. The writing is on the wall and in the hearts of the people. The end of the ruthless government is inevitable. The mahajangal raj will come to an end,” he said.
Ahead of Modi’s programmes, a clash broke out between supporters and workers of the TMC and the BJP in Kolkata. State minister Sashi Panja said that she was injured when BJP workers attacked her residence.
“The BJP is holding the rally with goons. My house was attacked. Stones were thrown, and window panes were broken. I am sure that they had all come well-prepared to carry out the attack. See their audacity.”