'Need to get rid of ‘maha jungle raj’ in Bengal': PM Modi attacks TMC in Ranaghat address

Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Trinamool Congress, describing the situation in West Bengal as a “maha jungle raj” and accusing the ruling party of corruption, nepotism and appeasement politics that he said have stalled the state’s development.

Addressing a large gathering at Taherpur in Nadia district via phone from Kolkata, after dense fog prevented his helicopter from landing at the venue, Modi appealed to voters to give the BJP a chance in the upcoming assembly elections and form a “double engine government” in the state.

“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 said at the Parivartan Sankalpa Sabha, the fourth such meeting held in the state this year.

The Prime Minister reiterated his charge that the state is witnessing a “maha jungle raj”, alleging that corruption, nepotism and appeasement have come to dominate governance under the TMC.

He also accused the Mamata Banerjee-led party of opposing the ongoing SIR exercise in an attempt to “save infiltrators from getting identified”.

Claiming that public sentiment at the grassroots was turning against the TMC, Modi said the streets of Bengal were echoing with the slogan “Banchte chai, BJP tai” (Need BJP to live), reflecting what he described as a desire to break free from the party’s rule.