Fear or Trust? PM on Bengal polls
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the TMC Government of running a Maha Jungleraj while pitching the 2026 Assembly polls as a straight contest between the Bhay (fear) spread by the ruling party and the BJP’s Bharosa (trust).
Addressing his first election rally in Cooch Behar in North Bengal, Modi used the Malda incident to sharpen the BJP’s twin campaign planks of “poor law and order” and alleged demographic change, besides the issues like safety of women and infiltration from Bangladesh to attack the TMC.
"Just a few days ago, the entire nation witnessed judicial officers being held hostage in Malda. What kind of Government is this, where judges and constitutional procedures are not safe? How can we expect such a Government to keep the people of Bengal safe?" PM said.
The Prime Minister was referring to Wednesday night’s incident in Malda’s Kaliachak-II block office, where seven judicial officers, including three women, were gheraoed for several hours by a mob during hearings on names marked “under adjudication” in the draft electoral rolls prepared during the Special Intensive Revision exercise.
“What happened in Malda is an example of TMC’s Maha Jungleraj,” PM Modi said. “On one side, there is the Bhay of the TMC, and on the other side, you have the BJP’s Bharosa. On one side is the fear of TMC’s cut money and corruption, and on the other side is the BJP which accelerates development,” he said.
The PM also contrasted the fear of infiltration and settling foreigners in Bengal with the BJP’s confidence in stopping infiltration and driving infiltrators out. Referring to the row over the revision of electoral rolls, Modi said the TMC is opposing SIR and the CAA to protect infiltrators.
The TMC does not want Hindu refugees to get citizenship, and that is why it is opposing CAA. “Under TMC rule, there has been a dangerous demographic change in Bengal’s border areas. These infiltrators get direct protection from the TMC’s syndicate, putting the lives of the state’s people under threat. In this game of appeasement politics, the identity of this great Bengal is being changed,” PM alleged.
He said those trying to change Bengal’s identity would be ousted this time. After May 4, the day of announcing poll results, the law will take its course, Modi said, and warned that every act of alleged corruption and violence under the TMC would be investigated.
Invoking Sandeshkhali, one of the BJP’s most potent political weapons in Bengal over the past year, Modi said, “On one side are the cries of sisters and daughters subjected to brutal atrocities, like those in Sandeshkhali. On the other side is Modi’s guarantee of security, dignity and empowerment for women.”
PM said a BJP Government in Bengal would ensure “real empowerment of women” and cited the Centre’s “Lakhpati Didi” scheme and the law providing 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
