Arambag (Hooghly): Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign in Bengal from Hooghly’s Arambag, using Sandeshkhali as a metaphor for every alleged wrong in the state, and telling women and Muslims that CM Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress was working against their interest.
Much of Modi’s 29-minute speech focused on Sandeshkhali, which arrested TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan allegedly used to lord over, and was peppered with appeals to “Bengal’s mothers, sisters and daughters” not to vote for TMC. "What Trinamool did to Sandeshkhali's sisters and daughters crossed all limits. The mastermind was arrested after nearly two months," the PM said.
The PM was referring to Shahjahan being traced from a hideout near his troubled turf after being on the run for 55 days. “Someone must have been there to protect him,” Modi told the crowd.
“The country is sad and angry at what Trinamool has done in Sandeshkhali. Rammohun Roy, who did so much for women's empowerment, would have wept had he witnessed what happened there...Will you forgive Trinamool? Won't you take revenge for what it has done?" Pointing to MLA Suvendu Adhikari and state BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar on the dais, the PM said that all this while, his party's Bengal leadership braved police's baton charge "to protect Sandeshkhali’s women”. "Police were forced to arrest the Sandeshkhali mastermind," he said.
Modi alleged that Bengal under Trinamool had "plumbed the depths of corruption and crime". "They have created a new model of corruption. From teachers' recruitment to municipality appointment, from land grab to chit funds to cattle-smuggling, Trinamool is deep in scams. The piles of cash seized from their leaders' homes have not been seen even in cinema."
