Bengal’s TMC govt not run from state secretariat, but by party-sheltered criminals: Modi
ARAMBAG (West Bengal), Apr 26 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleged the TMC government in West Bengal is not run from the state secretariat but by criminals sheltered by the party.
Addressing his second rally of the day in the Haripal area of Arambag in the Hooghly district, a day before the poll campaign ends, he said the TMC's "dependence on anti-social elements in ruling the state" often forces the Calcutta High Court or the Supreme Court to intervene and bring it back on track.
"The TMC's 'nirmam (cruel) sarkar' doesn't run from the Nabanna (state secretariat). It is run by goons and criminals, requiring the intervention of the high court and the country's apex court to bring the government back on track," Modi said.
He promised that at its very first Cabinet meeting, a BJP government in the state will give its nod to the implementation of the Centre's flagship health insurance programme, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
West Bengal is the only state that has not yet implemented the Centre's universal healthcare coverage scheme, with the TMC government running its own Swasthya Sathi scheme that provides for secondary and tertiary care up to Rs 5 lakh per family annually.
At the rally, the prime minister referred to the record 93.19 per cent polling in the first phase of Assembly polls in Bengal to claim that the ruling TMC was "rattled" by the voter turnout figure.
Alleging that the credibility of the Mamata Banerjee administration "has fallen to zero", Modi claimed that only the BJP can form a government, which will give justice and security to the people of the state.
"The TMC has perpetrated a culture of fear in Bengal for the past 15 years. People are now back saying 'Bhoy (fear) out, Bharosa (trust) in'," he said and urged people to break the April 23 turnout record in the second phase of polling on April 29.
"People are forced to move courts against the state government and its misdeeds because they have lost faith in it," Modi said, citing the teachers' recruitment scam, deployment of central forces for the 2023 panchayat polls, Sandeshkhali unrest and the RG Kar rape and murder, all of which required judicial interventions.
The prime minister told the rally that he would "remain as guarantor for women applying for loans in banks for their business initiatives", drawing loud cheers from those in attendance.
Speaking not far from the plot where the Tata Motors small car factory project in Singur was abandoned midway, he pointed towards the "steady decline of industries" in the Hooghly district.
"Decades ago, when the country produced only Ambassador cars, its production facility used to be in Hooghly's Uttarpara. Today, when India is producing electric vehicles and exporting them, established plants are shutting operations in Bengal."
The prime minister pledged that the BJP will prioritise developing the Hooghly district as the country's industrial hub, once the BJP comes to power in Bengal.
About the plight of potato farmers of the state, the prime minister claimed that the TMC-run syndicates "buy the produce at Rs 2-3 a kilo to sell it at Rs 25-30 elsewhere, leaving the hapless growers with no options".
"After May 4, when a BJP chief minister takes oath in Bengal, it will signal the end of syndicate raj, cut-money, and commission raj in the state," Modi said.
The prime minister alleged that crimes against women reached an all-time high across the state during the TMC's rule, as he accused the ruling party of "protecting the perpetrators of crimes, who roam freely".
It is important to replace the TMC government since it is evident that this dispensation "cannot offer security" to the state's women, Modi said, adding the BJP would prioritise women's empowerment through a host of schemes offering financial support.
"Bengal needs a government which can do justice to its potential, which can fulfil people's aspirations, and that job can only be done by a dispensation led by the BJP," the PM said. )PTI)
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