SINGUR: “Maha jungle raj” must end if Bengal is to regain law and order, attract industry and restore investor confidence, PM Narendra Modi said Sunday, launching a blistering attack on Trinamool Congress govt as the state heads towards assembly elections due in about three months.Addressing a rally at Singur — about 40km northwest of Kolkata in Hooghly district — Modi framed the contest as a straight fight between “Trinamool’s maha jungle raj and BJP’s sushasan (good governance)”, accusing Bengal’s governing party of playing with national security by protecting infiltrators for vote-bank politics.
“Infiltrators who have settled using forged documents must be identified and sent back,” Modi said, urging voters to replicate Bihar’s verdict against “jungle raj” and end what he called Trinamool’s 15-year misrule.He charged TMC with facilitating infiltration by denying land for fencing along Bangladesh border. “For the past 11 years, Centre has repeatedly written to state govt that a barbed-wire fencing must be erected along Bengal’s border and land is required for it. But TMC has shown no concern,” he said.This story continues on page 9 in the newspaper. For your reading convenience we have added it below.Your vote for BJP will ensure no Sandeshkhali, says Modi“Your vote for BJP will ensure there is no more Sandeshkhali or theft of jobs,” Modi said.Modi accused Trinamool of blocking central schemes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM Matsya Sampada Yojana and PM Shree Schools, alleging Bengal followed the path of erstwhile Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi govt in stopping benefits.Despite BJP’s pre-rally pitch built around “Tata”, “Nano” and land-for-industry, Modi made no reference to Singur’s past as flashpoint of land acquisition protests that helped Mamata Banerjee end Left Front’s 35-year govt in 2011 and drove Tata’s Nano project to Gujarat. Instead, he linked industry’s return to law and order. “Industry and investment will come to Bengal only when there is proper law and order. If voted to office, BJP will end syndicate tax and rioters,” he said.Earlier, Modi inaugurated and laid foundation stones for port-led development projects worth 830 crore, including an “extended port gate system” at Balagarh, about 60km north of Kolkata along Hooghly river.He said project would ease pressure on Kolkata Port, turn Hooghly into a warehousing and trading hub, draw hundreds of crores in investment and create jobs. “New markets will open for farmers here,” he said, flagging export potential for local produce.Outlining BJP’s economic script, Modi promised district-wise capacity building, a one-district-one-product push, a special plastic policy and immediate encouragement to jute packaging. Hooghly anchors Bengal’s jute belt and hosts nearly 60 mills. Turning to women and youth, Modi invoked social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, urging them to become agents of change.“Children will not get good education or jobs so long as TMC is in govt,” he said, alleging education sector was under grip of a mafia and Hooghly had been shamed by an education scam. “If voted to office, we will ensure they are behind bars.”Modi credited his govt for Durga Puja in Kolkata securing Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage tag, Santiniketan — about 160km northwest of Kolkata in Birbhum district — gaining world heritage status, classical language recognition for Bengali and installation of Subhas Chandra Bose’s statue at India Gate. “TMC was part of Sonia Gandhi’s govt but made no effort. It happened only after BJP formed govt in Delhi,” he said.
