PM attacks Mamata govt over ‘corruption, appeasement’, seeks mandate for ‘double engine’ rule in 2026
BuzzBytes
KOLKATA, Dec 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Trinamool Congress (TMC), describing the prevailing situation in West Bengal as “maha jungle raj” and accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of corruption, nepotism and appeasement that he said had blocked the state’s development. He urged the people to give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a chance in the upcoming assembly elections to form a “double engine government” in the state, with the same party in power at both the Centre and in Bengal.
Modi was scheduled to address the BJP’s Parivartan Sankalpa Sabha at Taherpur in Nadia district, but dense fog and poor visibility prevented his helicopter from landing at the makeshift helipad, forcing the chopper to turn back to Kolkata airport. From there, he addressed the “massive gathering” over phone, choosing to go ahead with the rally virtually rather than cancel the programme.
“Let the TMC oppose me and the BJP as much as it wants, but the ruling party cannot hold people to ransom, make them suffer and stop Bengal’s progress,” Modi told the rally, claiming that the popular mood at the grassroots was to “gain freedom from TMC’s misrule”. He asserted that the “lanes and alleys” of Bengal were resonating with the slogan “Banchte chai, BJP tai” (Need BJP to live), and said the people had decided to “punish” those who had betrayed their mandate.
The Prime Minister alleged that under the TMC, a system of “cut money” and commission had taken deep root and deprived ordinary citizens of the benefits of central schemes. He said that despite the Centre sending funds and launching welfare and infrastructure projects, the state government’s “corruption, nepotism and appeasement politics” ensured that development did not reach the poor and marginalised.
“We will end TMC’s ‘maha jungle raj’ in Bengal where corruption, nepotism and appeasement politics are ruling the roost,” Modi claimed, adding that those who indulged in syndicate raj and extortion would be held accountable. He contended that the present situation in the state had created an environment of fear and lawlessness, particularly for political opponents and dissenting voices.
Targeting the Mamata Banerjee-led party on the issue of alleged infiltration, Modi accused the TMC of opposing the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to “save infiltrators from getting identified”. He said forces “indulging in appeasement” were trying to protect infiltrators for political gains, and asserted that genuine citizens would not face any problem from the exercise.
Modi also alleged that the TMC leadership was more interested in protecting its vote bank than in securing the state’s borders and safeguarding the rights of local people. He charged that those he termed “deshdrohis” (anti-nationals) were standing with infiltrators and blocking efforts to clean up the electoral rolls and address security concerns in border districts.
The Prime Minister framed the forthcoming 2026 West Bengal assembly polls as a crucial opportunity to change the state’s direction, calling on voters to bring the BJP to power to ensure faster development, better law and order and improved connectivity. He said a “double engine government” would accelerate implementation of central schemes related to housing, roads, health and welfare, which he alleged were being “blocked or diluted” by the current regime.
Saturday’s Parivartan Sankalpa Sabha at Taherpur was the fourth such outreach event organised by the BJP in the state this year, part of the party’s broader bid to build momentum ahead of the elections by foregrounding issues of corruption, alleged syndicate raj, law and order and infiltration. Senior BJP leaders in Bengal have been projecting the rallies as platforms to tap into what they claim is growing anger against the TMC government in rural and semi-urban pockets.
Even as his travel plans were disrupted by the dense fog, Modi praised party workers and supporters for turning up in large numbers at the Nadia rally and urged them to intensify their contact programmes. He said Bengal was “crying out for change” and insisted that the state, with its history of culture, intellect and enterprise, deserved a government that would focus on jobs, industry and investment rather than “appeasement and cut money”.
