Prime Minister calls Mamata regime Bengal's 'darkest'

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed the ruling Trinamool Congress for failing to bring about any real change in the state.

“The nights in Bengal are darker now than it ever were,” Modi said while addressing two election rallies.

Describing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s regime as the “darkest night”, Modi launched a salvo not just against the Trinamool but also the coalition of the Left and Congress. “When Mamata didi came to power in 2011, everybody hoped she will usher in a new dawn, driving away 34 years of darkness under the Left Front. Instead, people of Bengal got nights that are darker than even under the Left,” he said.

The Prime Minister addressed rallies at Basirhat in North 24 Parganas and in Howrah. While Basirhat boasts of the sole BJP MLA in Bengal, Shamik Bhattacharya, who won the seat in a by-election in 2014, the BJP has fielded actor-turned politician Roopa Ganguly from the Howrah North seat. In both places, Modi raised the issue of corruption within the Trinamool ranks.

“Once upon a time, didi used to crusade against corruption but after coming to power in the name of change, she herself has changed. The Vivekananda flyover, Saradha scam and Narada tapes are all examples of how corrupt her government is but she says nothing,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister presented the BJP as the “only real alternative” and urged people to vote for his party and pointed out that both the Left and Trinamool have “destroyed Bengal”. Reiterating his commitment to the three-point agenda for Bengal — development, speedy development and overall development — he said only his vision of development can solve the problems dogging Bengal.

“Industries have closed and the future of Bengal’s youth is in dark. The only party dedicated to development is the BJP,” he said.

In Basirhat, he referred to Bhattacharya winning the by-poll in 2014 and said, “You are the people who have identified the party that can be entrusted with the future of Bengal. We’ve only one MLA and they (Trinamool, Left and Congress) keep asking what Modi has done but no one says what they have done,” he said.

Referring to incidents of violence during the third phase of polling, Modi claimed that such acts reveal Mamata’s desperation. “Didi has accepted defeat,” he added.