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TMC turning schemes to scams: PM in Nadia
PM Modi targets to win all 42 seats in West Bengal, accusing TMC of turning every scheme into a scam. Launches projects worth ₹15,000 crore in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday appeared to sound the poll bugle in West Bengal as he launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee-led government and set a target for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to win 42 seats in the state.
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has mastered the art of turning every scheme into a scam, Modi said at a BJP rally at Krishnanagar in Nadia district.
“The TMC government is repeatedly trying to put its own sticker on schemes from the central government. The people of the country should be aware of the impression this has created of Bengal, how it has maligned the state, and what is going on in the TMC. You will be shocked to know that this TMC government turns every scheme into a scam. It is a master in turning a scheme into a scam,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister, on the second day of his two-day visit to the eastern state, inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of projects worth ₹15,000 crore, including the Raghunathpur Thermal Power Station Phase-II, the road project for the four laning of Farakka-Raiganj section of NH-12, and four rail projects, apart from addressing the Krishnanagar rally. He also held a meeting with state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar and leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly Suvendu Adhikari.
While Union home minister Amit Shah had earlier set a target for the state BJP to win 35 out of the 42 seats, Modi raised the bar for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls by announcing that the BJP would win in all 42 seats in the state.
“In the next five years, the BJP government is going to introduce umpteen opportunities related to employment and investment. This is also the time for unprecedented change in West Bengal. But you have to start this with the coming Lok Sabha election. Will it do it? This time the lotus should bloom in all the 42 seats,” he said.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP bagged 18 seats after setting a target to win 22 seats.
“People have turned up in huge numbers. This sends out a clear message. Ei baar NDA Sarkar 400 paar (This time NDA will cross the 400-mark),” Modi also said as the crowd cheered. He has set a target for the BJP to win 370 seats on its own, and cross 400 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha with the help of its other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners.
Modi also stepped up his ante against the TMC government, slamming it for withholding the environment clearance (EC) for the state’s first AIIMS in Kalyani, Nadia district.
“Modi gave a guarantee to provide West Bengal with its first AIIMS... Recently I virtually dedicated to the Nation the AIIMS in Kalyani. But the state government has problems with this. They questioned why was permission not taken. The TMC has given free hand to extortionists, mafias and goons. The TMC government is not giving the environmental clearance. If the TMC government doesn’t get commission they block all permissions. First commission, then permission,” Modi said.
Officials of the state pollution control board said last week that it could not issue AIIMS Kalyani an EC at this stage. The application of the construction agency behind the hospital was under the “violation” category because the construction process had begun before the application was made.
Modi also launched a no-holds-barred attack against the Mamata Banerjee-government over the unrest in Sandeshkhali.
“The sisters of Sandeshkhali pleaded for justice, but the TMC government turned a deaf ear. The situation in Bengal is such that here that criminals themselves, not police, decide when they will surrender and when they will get arrested,” he said.
Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas has been on the edge since February 7 when violent protests erupted with groups of residents, led mostly by local women alleging sexual harassment at the hands of local TMC leaders including Sheikh Shahjahan, Shibaprasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar. While Hazra and Sardar were arrested earlier, Shahjahan was arrested on Thursday after 55 days on the run. Opposition parties had alleged he was being shielded by the police.
“The state government never wanted to arrest the culprit of Sandeshkhali. But the women of West Bengal stood up like Goddess Durga. Each and every worker of BJP stood beside them. The state government had to bow down,” said Modi.
The TMC hit back.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP-elect Sagarika Ghose, in a video message shared by the party, said, “Women in Sandeshkhali protested and came out with their issues on land and assault. But when they were asked who would they vote for, a vast majority of them said TMC and Mamata Banerjee. She is with them on the ground delivering women-centric schemes that deliver real welfare and real justice. Didi is with them 24X7. She is not a migratory bird who comes only during polls desperate for votes.”
The party also accused Modi of making false allegations after he said that West Bengal has 2.5 million fake job cards.
“You have deprived 5.9 million beneficiaries in West Bengal from getting their MGNREGS wages. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is clearing the dues. Uttar Pradesh has the highest fake job cards but it was never deprived as it is ruled by the BJP,” said state minister Shashi Panja in a video message shared by the TMC.
