Targeting the Trinamool Congress on the issue corruption and scams, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the youth of West Bengal are paying a price for the “cut-and-commission” culture of the State’s ruling party.
At an election rally in Malda, Mr. Modi said, “About 26,000 people lost their livelihoods due to the massive recruitment scam. Those who took loans and gave them to the Trinamool Congress [to get jobs] are on the roads now.”
Calcutta High Court verdict on SSC scam jolts Trinamool Congress in election season
The remarks came against the backdrop of the Calcutta High Court order directing the termination of jobs for about 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff of State-run schools on allegations of corruption and unfair methods in the recruitment process. The High Court, in an order on April 22, had also directed the employees to return their salaries with 12% interest.
Speaking at the rally, the Prime Minister referred to various scams, including the Sharada chit fund scam, the Rose Valley chit fund scam, and the coal smuggling scandal. “Under Trinamool rule, only one thing exists — scams totalling thousands of crores. The culprit is the Trinamool Congress, but the entire State is forced to pay for its deception and scams,” Mr. Modi added.
He also touched on the triple talaq ban in his address. “When the BJP government ended triple talaq to save Muslim sisters from oppression, the Trinamool Congress opposed it. There have been so many inhumane atrocities on women in Sandeshkhali, and the State government kept protecting the main accused till the end. Even in Malda, there was an incident that embarrassed women, but the government remained silent,” he said.
Malda district in central Bengal has a significant minority population that has been electing mostly Congress and Trinamool MLAs and MPs, except in 2019 when the BJP won the Malda Uttar Lok Sabha seat. The Malda Dakshin seat, however, went to the Congress in 2019.
Mr. Modi also commented on the enthusiasm of the people present at the rally. “Your enthusiasm, your love... I am deeply grateful. You are giving so much love, it appears that either I was born in Bengal in my previous birth or I will take birth from the womb of a mother in Bengal in my next birth. Probably, this much love one never gets,” he said.
The Prime Minister also accused the Congress and the Trinamool Congress of spreading canards about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
“The Congress and the Trinamool Congress to appease their vote bank are opposing the CAA. Why are they opposing Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist refugees, who were forced to leave their land due to religious persecution, from getting citizenship? The CAA is about granting citizenship and not snatching it,” he said.
Mamata makes counter attack
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who also addressed election rallies during the day, targeted the BJP by terming the party a “job-eater”. She said the people of West Bengal would not forgive BJP leaders for “conspiring to snatch” the livelihood of nearly 25,000 employees.
“You have heard about man-eater tigers, but have you heard about the job-eater BJP? Did you see the glee on the face of the leaders of the BJP, the CPI(M) and the Congress after so many people were rendered jobless by the court?” Ms. Banerjee said at a rally held in Ghatal. The Trinamool Congress chairperson attacked the CPI(M) and the Congress, calling the two parties the “eyes and ears” of the BJP in the State.
