At the event, PM Modi not only presented an account of Bengal’s development but also sharply targeted the Opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC), Congress and Left.
This was Modi’s first trip to the state after the BJP formed its government last month, handing a crushing defeat to the incumbent Mamata Banerjee-led TMC in the polls.
Addressing the gathering, Modi said West Bengal has now been “freed from shackles”, promising a new phase of development for the state. He inaugurated and laid foundation stones for multiple projects linked to railways, agriculture, fisheries and roads, while also releasing the 23rd instalment of PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi funds for farmers across the country.
Modi, who is in Bengal on a two-day visit, was joined by Bengal Governor R N Ravi and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on the stage.
The PM is set to participate in three public programmes, headlined by the International Yoga Day event at the iconic Red Road in Kolkata on Sunday morning.
Modi said the atmosphere in the state reflected a sense of change and renewed optimism. “I want to congratulate and extend my best wishes to the people on the occasion of Paschimbanga Divas. A new fragrance is wafting from every particle here; it feels as if Bengal has now broken free from its shackles. As if the restoration of Bengal’s pride has begun. Today’s event is a witness, and the launch of these projects is a testament that our Bengal has started to work building its new future,” he said.
Modi said the newly elected BJP government has begun work on development initiatives across the state. “The BJP government has started working at a super-fast pace for Bengal’s development,” he said.
The PM claimed that efforts were underway to undo the damage caused by decades of governance under the Left first and later the TMC.
“Work has begun in earnest to fill the potholes created in Bengal’s progress over decades, first by the Left and then by the Trinamool,” he said. Invoking a Bengali phrase, PM Modi added, “Poribortonta bhalo lagche (the change feels good)”, while crediting voters for ushering in political transformation in the state.
Modi also revisited Bengal’s Partition-era history and paid tribute to Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of the BJP’s forerunner Bharatiya Jana Sangh. “There was a conspiracy to make the whole of Bengal a part of Pakistan. Anti-India forces wanted to take Bengal away from our country,” he said. Modi said it was Mookerjee who launched a movement to resist those efforts and ensure that a part of Bengal remained within India. “Syama Prasad Mookerjee started a movement to resist that conspiracy. Bengal endured bloodshed, Bengal lost its own people, Bengal witnessed its motherland being torn apart, yet it never allowed its identity and essence to be destroyed,” he said.
The PM targeted the Congress, alleging that it had failed to properly acknowledge Mookerjee’s role in Bengal’s history. “The Congress whitewashed the history of Bengal. The Congress dismissed Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s contributions,” he said. He further claimed that historical facts surrounding Bengal’s Partition and the struggle to preserve its identity had been deliberately ignored.
Explaining how the situation has changed since the BJP government came to power in Bengal, Modi said, “During the previous government’s tenure, industrialists were fleeing from here, and infiltration was increasing. People united and removed the TMC, bringing the BJP to power. Now, people are getting their rights back.”
Taking a swipe at the TMC whose several leaders and ex-ministers have been arrested over various corruption charges in recent weeks, the PM said: “Those who once looted you are now returning the looted money. Big looters are being sent to jail. Those who ran the syndicate raj are now apologising. The extortionists at toll plazas have fled. The cut-money regime in Bengal has now ended; real work has begun.”
He said that although the Border Security Force (BSF)’s fencing work at the India-Bangladesh border had earlier been obstructed, that work is now progressing at a rapid pace.
Concluding his speech, Modi said, “Bengal will not stop now; this time Bengal will make history.”
CM Adhikari also spoke at the event, explaining the significance of Tarakeswar. “On this holy ground in 1947 from April 4 to April 7, a conference was held by Hindu Mahasabha where it was decided that they will organise a movement to include West Bengal in India. On June 20, the provincial government made the decision that West Bengal will remain in India… That is why we chose Tarakeswar to celebrate Paschimbanga Divas for the first time,” he said.
On Sunday, the PM is scheduled to participate in events for the 12th International Yoga Day at Red Road in Kolkata, where he will also address a gathering. Later in the day, he will commission three indigenously designed and built naval ships at the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in the city.
