Modi-Shah slam TMC over women's safety, Ganga vs Yamuna politics as PM takes a boat ride

"Under the TMC government, daughters are not safe, but under a BJP government, not a single rapist or criminal will be safe," said Modi at a rally in Panihat.

Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday sharpened their attacks on the Trinamool Congress promising to end “TMC’s reign of jungle raj” and create an environment in which “mothers and sisters will not feel scared to come out of their homes even at 2 am.”

In her counter, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said “those sitting in Delhi” have been plotting to impose their agenda on the people of Bengal, but every attempt to undermine the state would be met with a decisive democratic pushback.

"Under the TMC government, daughters are not safe, but under a BJP government, not a single rapist or criminal will be safe. Everyone will be held accountable,” Modi said at a rally in Panihati where Ratna Debnath, mother of RG Kar victim, is contesting on a BJP ticket.

"Bengal has been troubled by 15 years of Maha-jungle Raj. In these 15 years, much blood has been shed. A mother who made her daughter study to become a doctor, who fell victim to TMC's jungle raj, was made a BJP candidate. BJP also gave an opportunity to the Sandeshkhali victims to lead,” he said, days before the second phase of polling in 142 constituencies across south Bengal.

“When the daughters of Bengal seek justice, TMC tells them not to step out of their homes to avoid rape. TMC does not want women to dream.”

Shah too flagged the same at a rally in Uttarpara. “Mothers and sisters will not feel scared to come out of homes even at 2 am after BJP forms the government in Bengal,” he said.

On the incidents of violence in the first phase, Shah said no one was killed and less than 30 people were injured, which showed that by and large, the elections were held in a peaceful manner.

"In the 2016 elections, 1,278 people were injured. In the 2021 elections, 1,681 people were injured. In the 2023 panchayat elections, 664 people were injured. And in the 2024 general elections, 761 people were injured,” he said.

In the morning Modi took a boat ride in the Ganga in Kolkata and shared photographs and video on social media.

Addressing an election meeting in Howrah, Banerjee said Modi would not be able to undertake a similar boat ride on the Yamuna in the national capital due to pollution, blaming the BJP-led administration in Delhi for the river's condition.

She said it was good that the Prime Minister chose to take a boat ride on the Hooghly River, where riverfront areas had been beautified by the state government and civic bodies, including the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.