Modi Accuses TMC of Obstructing Development of West Bengal, Inaugurates Terminal 2 at Guwahati Airport
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 20: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal of hindering the development of the state and claimed that the people were desperately seeking a “double -engine government” to ensure the progress of the state.
“Let the Trinamool oppose me and BJP as much as it wants, but the ruling party cannot hold people to ransom, make them suffer and stop Bengal’s progress,” Mr Modi said. Mr Modi also raised the slogan of “Bachte Chai, BJP Tai’ (To survive, we need BJP), which he had raised during his rally at Dum Dum in Kolkata on August 23, earlier this year. The slogan “Bachte Chai, BJP Tai” is the party slogan for next year’s West Bengal State Assembly polls due early next year. This was the fourth political meeting of the Prime Minister in West Bengal this year and first after the NDA victory in Bihar.
The Prime Minister addressed the rally virtually after his helicopter could not land at the rally site in Nadia due to dense fog. His helicopter had to return to Kolkata airport after failing to land at the Taherpur helipad due to low visibility this afternoon. It hovered over the helipad for some time and took a U-turn, officials said. The Prime Minister in his virtual address over telephone apologised to the people gathered at the rally venue saying that bad weather prevented him from being in their midst.
The rally was strategically organised at W.B. BJP leadership at Taherpur in Nadia, an area with a significant population of Matua, a community of Hindu namasudras who have migrated from Bangladesh. After the first phase of SIR in West Bengal, Matuas who have supported the BJP in the past elections, have faced maximum deletions from the voter list. The Union Government’s attempts to provide them citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has actually not worked on the ground.
Highlighting the victory of National Democratic Alliance in the recently concluded Assembly polls in Bihar, Mr Modi said now the people of West Bengal need freedom from the “mahajungle-raj” prevailing here. “Last month the people of Bihar gave a huge mandate to the NDA. After the victory in Bihar, I had said that Ganga flows from Bihar to Bengal. Bihar had rejected jungle-raj for 20 years…now people of West Bengal need freedom from the mahajungle-raj prevailing here,” Mr Modi said.
Accusing the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of protecting ‘ illegal infiltrators’, the Prime Minister said Trinamool raises slogans of “Go Back Modi” but remains silent when it comes to “illegal infiltrators.” Posters with “Go Back Modi” had come up in areas surrounding Taherpur. “Infiltrators enjoy TMC patronage in Bengal. Trinamool Congress is opposing SIR to save infiltrators from getting identified,” Mr Modi said.
While the Prime Minister touched upon the contributions of Harichand Thakur and Guruchand Thakur, the founders of the Matua sect during his brief 15 minutes address, he could not allay the fears among the community. The Trinamool Congress leadership claimed that the Prime Minister could not address the concerns of the community relating to SIR and citizenship.
The Prime Minister, however, assured that he would visit the state again soon and will address the people. During his brief speech Mr Modi made reference to ‘Rishi Bankim Babu’ for penning ‘Vande Mataram’ and said the country was celebrating 150 years of the national song. “In the 19th century Vande Mataram was the mantra for freedom against servitude and in the 21st century it has become the mantra for development of the nation. Vande Mataram is the mantra for Vikshit Bharat,” he said.
Later during a brief visit to Assam, Mr Modi while addressing a rally after inaugurating a new terminal of the Guwahati airport, attacked the Congress for “neglecting” Assam and the North-east region during its rule, and asserted that the BJP government was correcting “mistakes” the grand old party kept making in the region for decades. Mr Modi alleged that the development of Assam and the northeast was never a part of the Congress agenda.
The newly-inaugurated Terminal 2 building of the Guwahati airport is designed to handle around 13.1 million passengers per year and was built at an expense of around ₹4,000 crore.
“The Congress gave protection to infiltrators who grabbed forests and land, threatening the security and identity of Assam… The BJP government has been correcting mistakes the Congress kept making for decades in the northeast,” the PM asserted.
Mr Modi said the Election Commission of India (ECI) started the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls to ensure infiltrators are kept out of the poll process, “but ‘deshdrohis’ (traitors) were trying to protect them.” “The Centre is taking strict steps to stop infiltration,” he said. The Prime Minister said development under the BJP’s double-engine government “flows unabated” in Assam, just as the flow of the mighty Brahmaputra river.
“My attachment to the land of Assam inspires me, gives me strength for development of region. Assam and the entire Northeast is becoming the gateway to India’s development. Every state, each region of the country has an important role to play in the mission of a developed India,” Mr Modi said.
He also unveiled an 80-foot statue of Assam’s first Chief Minister, Gopinath Bardoloi, outside the new terminal of the airport named after him. The statue has been sculpted by eminent artist Ram Sutar, who died in Noida at the age of 101 on Wednesday. Sutar had also sculpted the 125-foot statue of legendary Ahom general Lachit Barphukan, who had defeated the Mughals, at Jorhat, which was unveiled by Modi in March, 2024. Congress leader Gopinath Bardoloi was awarded the Bharat Ratna by the BJP government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee.
