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PM Modi unveils key connectivity initiatives, takes a hit at opposition in poll-bound West Bengal
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two national highway projects worth Rs. 3,200 crore in West Bengal's Nadia district, enhancing connectivity between Kolkata and Siliguri and reducing travel time. His visit also served as a prelude to the upcoming assembly polls, where he criticized the TMC's governance and urged voters to support the BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated two national highway projects worth Rs. 3,200 crore in West Bengal's Nadia district. He also inaugurated the 66.7 km long 4-Laning of Barajaguli - Krishnanagar Section of NH-34 in the Nadia District, along with the 4-laning of the 17.6 km long Barasat-Barajaguli Section of NH-34 in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
The newly inaugurated projects will serve as a vital connecting link between Kolkata and Siliguri, as they will help to reduce travel time by approximately 2 hours. It will further help to reduce vehicle operating costs and improve connectivity between Kolkata and other neighboring districts of West Bengal as well as with neighbouring countries.
The projects will also boost the economic growth in the region and will provide impetus to the growth of tourism across the region, government said in a release.
This visit marks the prime minister's first visit to the state since the draft SIR rolls were published, and the third in the past five months. "The PM arrived at the N S C Bose International Airport at 10:33 am and boarded a helicopter for Nadia," an official said on Friday morning.
Modi sounded the BJP's bugle for the assembly polls, which are due in the state early next year and finalise the roadmap for the party's big push for the crucial elections.
“The people of West Bengal are benefiting from numerous pro-people initiatives of the central government. At the same time, they are suffering due to the TMC's misgovernance in every sector,” Modi said in a post on X on Friday evening while announcing his visit.
“The loot and intimidation of the TMC have crossed all limits. That is why, the BJP is the people's hope,” he added.
PM hits at TMC
Modi lashed out at the Trinamool Congress during his virtual address in West Bengal, calling the state's prevailing situation “maha jungle raj” and alleging that corruption, nepotism and appeasement of the ruling dispensation have prevented development in the state.Virtually addressing a massive gathering in Nadia district, Modi urged the people to provide a chance to the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls to form a “double engine government” in the state.
“Let the TMC oppose me and 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 in Bengal this year.
“We will end TMC's 'maha jungle raj' in Bengal where corruption, nepotism and appeasement politics are ruling the roost,” Modi claimed.
He alleged that the Mamata Banerjee-led party was opposing the ongoing SIR exercise to “save infiltrators from getting identified”.
Claiming that the popular sentiment on Bengal's grassroots was to “gain freedom from TMC's misrule”, Modi said, “the lanes and alleys of the state are resonating with cries of the slogan ‘Banchte chai, BJP tai' (Need BJP to live).”
Modi's Bengal visit timed rightly
Modi's visit comes at a time when the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has mounted strong opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. In her recent remarks, the West Bengal leader alleged that the exercise is being carried out in haste and that a large number of genuine voters, particularly refugee Hindus, risk disenfranchisement on its account.In West Bengal's draft electoral rolls published after the enumeration phase, 58,20,899 names have been excluded, reducing the electorate to 7.08 crore.
The Election Commission has flagged around 1.36 crore entries for "logical discrepancies", while 30 lakh voters have been categorised as unmapped.
This exercise has revived anxiety among Matuas over identity and documentation as the Dalit Hindu community migrated from Bangladesh over decades due to religious persecution.
Over the past few years, poll results have indicated that the BJP gained significant inroads within the community, promising them formal Indian citizenship.
BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar, representing the Ranaghat Lok Sabha seat, where Taherpur is located, claimed that fear was being spread deliberately among the Matuas about SIR.
"We are hopeful that the PM's message would dispel those fears and canards," he said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already led anti-SIR rallies in Nadia and North 24 Parganas district, the two adjoining districts that share a border with Bangladesh and have a significant Matua presence.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
Source: EconomicTimes
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