Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday claimed that based on feedback after the first three phases of elections, he was confident that the BJP-led NDA would get more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha.
Addressing four back-to-back meetings in West Bengal today, the Prime Minister also made it clear that no reservations based on religion would be allowed in the country. He asserted that as long as the BJP was there, nobody would be able to take away the reservations of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. He also swatted away Rahul Gandhi’s claim that if the INDI alliance came to power, the Ram Mandir verdict would be overturned and the Citizenship Amendment Act would not be implemented.
Addressing a public rally in Barrackpore in West Bengal, PM Narendra Modi said: “Today I am giving five guarantees. Till the time I am here, reservation will not be provided based on religion. Till the time I am here, no one can finish SC, ST, and OBC reservation. Till the time I am here, no one can stop you from worshipping Lord Ram and celebrating Ram Navami. Till the time I am here, no one can overturn the Supreme Court’s judgement on the Ram Temple. Till the time I am here, no one will be able to abolish CAA.”
The Prime Minister’s remarks on the Ram Mandir verdict came days after former Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnan on May 6 said that soon after the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Ayodhya case, Rahul Gandhi had said that after Congress forms its Government at the Centre, it would “overturn” the top court’s verdict on Ram Mandir just like Rajiv Gandhi overturned the Shah Bano decision”.
Taking on the I.N.D.I.A bloc and the Trinamool Congress, he said: “The I.N.D.I. Alliance has completely surrendered to their appeasement policy. They are willing to engage in ‘Vote Jihad’ against BJP. A TMC leader says that they will throw Hindus in the Bhagirathi river…Where do they get the audacity to say and do all of this?” he asked.
While addressing another rally in Hooghly, he launched a veiled attack on Rahul Gandhi and said: “Keep it in writing, Congress will get fewer seats than the age of Congress’ Shehzada.”
In all the four election rallies across three districts in West Bengal – Barrackpore in North 24-Parganas district, Panchla in Howrah, and Chinsurah and Pursura in Hooghly district – Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a fierce attack on the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.
He said that amid the BJP’s efforts of development, the Trinamool Congress is busy in its “own work”.
“What is the work of TMC and its leaders? Yahan mafia raj chal rha hai. Modi kehta hai har ghar jal, TMC kahti hai, har ghar bomb”.
He slammed the “vote bank politics” of the Trinamool Congress and alleged that the party’s goons were threatening the tormented women of Sandeshkhali to protect the culprits “since the name of the main culprit is Shahjahan Sheikh”.
Modi alleged that under the Trinamool Congress rule, Hindus have turned into second-class citizens in the State. “The TMC has surrendered before vote bank politics in Bengal. You cannot take the name of Shree Ram and neither can you celebrate Ram Navami,” he alleged.
Addressing the issue of corruption in West Bengal, he said that the Trinamool Congress’ recruitment mafia had destroyed the future of the youths of Bengal. He asserted that he would not let the corrupt leaders sit peacefully. They will be brought to book! No corrupt leader will be spared. “The money that the TMC extorted from you will be lawfully given back to you,” he asserted.
PM Modi said: “The TMC has made scams its full-time business. Be it the Left, Congress or any other party of the I.N.D.I. alliance, corruption is their common character. Most of the parties in the I.N.D.I. alliance do scams secretly, but the TMC runs an open industry of scams.”
The Prime Minister alleged that infiltrators were flourishing under the protection of Trinamool Congress in the State. “There was a time when many scientific discoveries were taking place in Bengal, today under the rule of TMC, home industry of making bombs is running in many places. There was a time when Bengal used to revolt against the infiltrators, but today the infiltrators are flourishing here under the protection of the TMC,” he said.
He said that just like a guardian of the family who wants to leave something for the children, “I also want to give a ‘Viksit Bharat’ in the hands of children, since the people of India was his family. On the other side, the TMC and other parties are looting the people of the country and building bungalows and mansions for their heirs”
Addressing the public meeting in Howrah Modi said: “The way the TMC is looting Bengal is a great sin. Teacher recruitment scam, coal scam, chit fund scam, ration scam… what a long list it is. The TMC has not even spared our farmers. The TMC even loots paddy farmers in the markets.”
Targeting the I.N.D.I. bloc, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “To appease their vote bank, they are willing to resort to any means within their control. The TMC is staunchly anti-women and anti-SC/ST. The Congress divided the land based on religion, yet they opposed granting citizenship to the Matua community through the CAA. The TMC Government is irritated by the development of the SC community, hence it is not allowing you to progress, whereas the BJP Government gives priority to the interests of the SC community. When there was a Congress Government at the Centre, the SC Ministry used to get a budget of only Rs 40,000 crore annually for the welfare of the society. Today, the BJP Government gives a budget of more than Rs 1.4 lakh crore for the welfare of the SC community.”
While addressing the rally in Howrah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Trinamool Congress and said that they had removed all the industries and industrialists from West Bengal. “Howrah used to be an industrial hub earlier. But first the Left, and then TMC, brought all the industries to a halt. The readymade garment sector here is struggling”. He also alleged that goons of the Trinamool Congress openly capture land and the State Government supports them.
During a public rally in Arambagh, PM Modi said: “The way the TMC is looting Bengal, that is a big sin…they have a long list of scams. Even our farmers are not spared…the Modi Government gives PM Kisan Samman Nidhi to farmers and they get little bit relief from this, otherwise, the TMC has left no stone unturned to destroy the farmers of Bengal”.
In the election rally in Hooghly, he said: “I have come here with a scheme: Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. Online registration has started for this. The Modi Government will give you Rs 75,000 for putting up solar panels at your rooftop. You can use the electricity and remaining can be sold. It is like double income. There is also a possibility of triple income.
You can also use it for charging Electric Vehicles. It will allow you free transportation.” He said that he had come to take the blessings of the people of Bengal. “The BJP is going to get a bigger success than 2019. West Bengal is an important State for us. Congress ruled for 50 years, but people of Eastern India only got poverty despite the States being capable.
These States have mineral resources, fertile land. These states have also tourism potential. I have decided to make these States an engine of growth for Viksit Bharat,” said Modi.
The Prime Minister also received special Mother’s Day presents during his election rally in Hooghly. Modi was presented with a picture of him and his mother, Late Heeraben Modi, on the occasion of Mother’s Day. The PM expressed gratitude to the people who presented him with the picture. “The people in the rally have made the picture of my mother… The people in the West celebrate this day as Mother’s Day, but in India, we worship our Mother, Ma Durga, Ma Kali and Bharat Mata, 365 days a year,” Modi said.