Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched an all-out attack on the West Bengal government over the law and order situation in the state, referring to the mob siege of judicial officers in Malda to accuse the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of failing to uphold constitutional governance.
Addressing a rally in Cooch Behar, his first in the state since the announcement of the elections, Modi hit out at the Mamata Banerjee-led government for using the term “ishtehar” for its manifesto, accused it of sheltering infiltrators, and criticised what he described as its “appeasement politics”, which he said was threatening the state’s identity.
“The merciless TMC government is strangling the Constitution and destroying law and order. The nation was shocked to see judicial officers held hostage in Malda. Not only TMC’s local leaders but also the government was involved in it,” Modi said.
Seven court-appointed judicial officers — two of whom were women—were trapped inside the BDO’s office for more than eight hours on Wednesday night until the police escorted them out around 10pm. An eighth officer — a woman — was stranded in her car on the road to the BDO’s office during the agitation in which locals blocked roads, including NH-12.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the incident. West Bengal Police has arrested Mofakkerul Islam, who had contested the 2021 assembly polls from Itahar on an All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) ticket, and named him as a key conspirator. The TMC alleged that AIMIM was acting in coordination with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
{{/usCountry}}The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the incident. West Bengal Police has arrested Mofakkerul Islam, who had contested the 2021 assembly polls from Itahar on an All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) ticket, and named him as a key conspirator. The TMC alleged that AIMIM was acting in coordination with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
{{/usCountry}}PM Modi slams TMC terming manifesto as ‘istehar’
Modi also drew on a historical episode to target the TMC, criticising its use of the word “ishtehar” (Urdu for advertisement) for its poll manifesto. He linked it to the “Lal Ishtehar” circulated after Bengal’s partition in 1905, which he said was followed by attacks on Hindus. In 1905, Lord Curzon, then Viceroy of India, partitioned Bengal into Hindu-majority West Bengal and Muslim-majority East Bengal, a move later reversed in 1911 after the Swadeshi movement.
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“TMC is bringing back that episode in history. A specific religious group will make it impossible for you to survive. There is a conspiracy to wipe out Bengal’s culture and honour. Enough is enough. Those who are trying to change the identity of Bengal have to leave for good,” Modi said.
To be sure, the English version of TMC’s document is called “Manifesto 2026” and in Hindi it is titled “Ghoshana Patra, 2026” (announcement document). The Bengali version, of which HT has a copy, is titled “Ishtehar 2026.”
The Prime Minister also alleged that the demographic profile of West Bengal had changed significantly during the TMC’s tenure due to illegal immigration. He accused the state government of opposing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying it was doing so to protect what he described as its “vote bank”.
“This appeasement is forcing Bengal into an identity crisis. On one hand, you live in the fear of losing your independence, your culture. On the other hand, you have the BJP’s assurance that all infiltrators will be rounded up and driven out of Bengal,” Modi said.
The north Bengal region is crucial for the state’s electoral arithmetic. In the 2021 elections, the BJP won 30 of the 54 assembly seats in the region, although the TMC secured 213 of the state’s 294 seats. The BJP had won seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats in the region in 2019 and six seats in the 2024 elections.
Modi also criticised the state government over infrastructure and development, alleging that projects such as proposed airports in Malda, Balurghat and Hashimara had been stalled and that Alipurduar still lacked a medical college. He also said that central welfare funds were not reaching tea garden workers and tribal communities.
“In 2012, TMC told Cooch Behar residents that the region would become a seat of industry. After 14 years, not even the land for that has been acquired. In 2021, a 300-acre industrial park was announced at Mekhliganj. Not a single factory has come up,” he added.
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Addressing women at the rally, Modi reiterated the Centre’s commitment to implementing 33% reservation and said a special sitting of Parliament would be held on April 16, 17 and 18 to discuss the issue.
TMC leaders rejected Modi’s allegations. Lok Sabha member Kirti Azad accused the BJP of spreading misinformation and alleged that elements linked to the party were involved in the Malda violence.
“Modiji should stop lying. We exposed how your B and C teams were involved in the Malda violence. From police observer to AIMIM leader – you deployed your entire machinery to create unrest,” he said.
Rajya Sabha member Sagarika Ghose also criticised Modi over women’s reservation, accusing the BJP of hypocrisy and alleging that it had failed to uphold women’s rights. “We don’t need lectures from a party that is famous for shielding and garlanding rapists,” she said.