West Bengal: High voter turnout signals mandate for change, says PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated the people of West Bengal for their massive turnout in the ongoing first phase of assembly elections, and called the vote figures so far indicative of an “overwhelming mandate for change”.
Addressing a poll rally in Krishnanagar in Nadia district, Modi also congratulated the Election Commission for keeping “violence during the assembly polls in the State at a minimum”.
“This is the first time in the last 50 years of poll history in Bengal that incidents of violence were kept at a minimum. The information I have received so far about the record-breaking turnout makes me certain that this is going to be an overwhelming mandate in favour of a change which Bengal’s voters have already decided to bring about,” the PM said. Referring to the voter turnout figures elsewhere in the country, the PM claimed the BJP achieved decisive victories whenever people turned up to vote in massive numbers.
Bengal has recorded an average voter turnout of nearly 90 per cent till 5 pm.
Reports of sporadic violence were received from some pockets of the State during the first half of polls taking place across 152 assembly seats amid unprecedented security arrangements, where over 2400 companies of central paramilitary troops have been deployed.
Modi said that the BJP’s Bengal unit would hold victory celebrations on May 4 after the counting of votes gets over, where the party would distribute among people not just sweets, but also ‘jhalmuri’, the popular street snack which the PM savoured at an unscheduled stop during his visit to Jhargram last week.
Referring to that incident, Modi took a dig at TMC leaders after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee termed the PM’s extended stay as “drama” and claimed that “the entire episode was scripted”.
“I have heard that even jhalmuri has given certain individuals a thunderous jolt,” the PM said, “I had ‘jhalmuri’, but it seems that the TMC leaders are feeling the heat of the chillies.”
Referring to “people’s disgust with TMC’s syndicate, criminal and Mafia nexus”, Modi claimed that the party will not win even a single seat in certain districts of the State.
Speaking in an area which has a significant concentration of the Hindu Namasudra Matua community members and where SIR deletions have led to perceptible angst, the Prime Minister said that post elections, the process of awarding citizenship to persecuted refugees from Bangladesh would be expedited.
“The TMC mantra is Ghuspetiyo ke saath, ghuspetiyo ka vikaas (stay with infiltrators to promote their development. We must stop this conspiracy of granting citizenship to outsiders with false documents, which endangers our land. A new guarantee of security will begin in Bengal after May 4,” the PM said.
Invoking Matua religious leaders Hari Chand and Guru Chand Thakur, Modi said no Matua family needs to fear persecution from the TMC.
“Modi stands with all those who have sought refuge in India following religious persecution. The process of granting citizenship through CAA will be expedited further after the BJP assumes power in Bengal,” the PM assured.
Focusing on the issue of women’s safety in the State, Modi referred to the 2022 gangrape and murder of a teenager in Hanskhali in Nadia, calling it an example of TMC’s model of fear, which it has spread across the State.
“The cases of women trafficking in the State are steadily on the rise,” he claimed.
Asserting that the TMC can never bring about true empowerment of women in Bengal, the PM attacked the party for “collaborating with the Congress to stop the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament” last week.
“The BJP wants to reserve 33 per cent seats in the Parliament and at the State assemblies from the next Lok Sabha polls, but the TMC doesn’t want more seats to be reserved for the women of this State. Women of Bengal will surely punish the TMC for this sin,” he said.
As an extension to his earlier promises of ‘six poll guarantees’ for the State, the PM pledged a fresh set of 10 ‘Modi-ki-guarantees’ aimed at the uplift and welfare of women and children of Bengal.
“We will ensure the strictest punishment for those perpetrating torture and violence on the women of Bengal, will set up special police stations for women in every block of the State and build special security kiosks on the streets. The State’s women would be inducted in police force in greater numbers,” Modi said.
The PM promised an annual grant of Rs 36,000 to the bank accounts of all women through the Bengal BJP’s newly launched Matri Shakti Bharosa card and pledged Rs 50,000 assistance to female students of the State for their graduation studies.
He also said that financial assistance of up to Rs 21,000 will be provided to all pregnant women of the State, while the BJP Government of Bengal will provide an additional Rs 36,000 for the nutrition requirements of infants and children.
The future of girls will be secured through the Sukanya Sanriddhi policy of the Centre and loans of up to Rs 20 lakhs would be granted for self-employment projects run by women, alongside monetary assistance to women to get enrolled in the Centre’s Lakhpati Didi scheme, the PM said.
Property registration would be done under the names of women of economically weak families under the PM Awas scheme, and women will receive the rights to own their property, Modi declared.
“Modi-ki-guarantee automatically means the fulfilment of those guarantees,” he added.
I had jhalmuri, but it seems that the TMC leaders are feeling heat of the chillies
— PM Narendra Modi
