Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flayed the Mamata Banerjee government, accusing it of hindering close to 24 infrastructure development projects worth Rs 90 thousand crore in Bengal and claimed that the people of the state will bring "the change" by uprooting the current regime.
"The government here is not at all serious about the state's development. Close to two dozen big infrastructure projects worth close to 90 thousand crore rupees in West Bengal are being hindered. Either work could not be started or the projects are running at a very slow pace," Modi claimed while addressing a public meeting in Bengal's Durgapur.
"These are projects related to road, railway, waterway, coal, petroleum and many other important sectors. But the Centre is not getting the required assistance from the state government to run these projects," he alleged.
Accusing the Trinamool Congress of running a syndicate culture in Bengal, Modi said the state government is not allowing the projects to function as "syndicates" are not able to extort from these Central projects.
"The world knows that the Trinamool government does not touch the projects where the syndicates do not get any share. Centre's initiatives to bring West Bengal on the track of development cannot be fulfilled till an anti-development government is in power here," Modi said.
"The state government that does not have any regard for democracy, the party whose activists are allowed to conduct all sorts of violence and vandalism, their removal is certain. I can clearly see that Bengal will bring the change at any cost... they will uproot Mamata Banerjee's government," he said.
Addressing a massive crowd at the Durgapur ground in Bengal's West Bardhaman district Modi claimed that the state's ruling regime is "fearful" of BJP's growing popularity in the state and said the sacrifice of the saffron party activists will not go in vein.
"I want to tell every single BJP activist in Bengal that their courage, enthusiasm and sacrifice will not go in vein. It might take some time," Modi said.
"I thought that Didi (Banerjee) who herself faced so much inconvenience during the communist regime here and has been a witness of their policies to destroy the democracy, will not walk their path. But now I understand that it is your love and enthusiasm (for us) that has taken away her sleep," he claimed.
The Prime Minister said like the communists, Trinamool Congress government's intimidating tactics would also fail to stop Bengal people from bringing in a political change.
Taking a dig at Banerjee, the Prime Minister said she is depriving the poor from getting the benefits of various central schemes like 'Ayushman Bharat' as she is scared that people will forget her and chant the name of Modi.
"Along with Bihar and Jharkhand, West Bengal could have been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the 'Ayushman Bharat' scheme last year. But the government here refused to give the benefits of the project to poor," he noted.
"When close to 17 thousand poor were being treated for free in Bengal under Ayushman Bharat scheme, the state government withdrew its support from the project midway. There cannot be any bigger instance of heartlessness than this," he said.
Modi further alleged that the Bengal ruling party is well known for extorting money in the form of "Triple T" (Trinamool Tolabaji (extortion) Tax" and said the BJP is the only party that can challenge such malpractices and eradicate syndicate culture from the state.--IANS
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