At massive Kolkata rally, PM vows retribution for Bengal's ills

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday delivered a fiery address at Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground, vowing to hold accountable those responsible for West Bengal's "jungle raj" under the Trinamool Congress regime as the state braces for Assembly elections.

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE KOLKATA

Marking the culmination of the BJP's month-long "Parivartan Yatra", the rally drew a massive crowd despite pre-event clashes between TMC and BJP workers, underscoring the intensifying political polarization in the run-up to the polls.

PM Modi unleashed a barrage of criticism against successive Bengal governments, accusing them of stalling development while lining their own pockets.

Without taking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's name even once, he repeatedly referred to her regime as "nirmam sarkar" (heartless government).

PM promised "retribution" through accountability, declaring the "countdown has begun" for TMC.

"Those TMC goons who threaten you, their days of fear will begin. Criminals will fear the law. Infiltrators will fear the law. Appeasement politics will fear the law. Such criminals will have only one place—jail, jail, jail."

"Parivartan ki aandhi ko nirmam sarkar rok nahi payegi", he told the rapturous crowd.

"First the Congress, then the Communists, and now TMC—they kept coming one after another, filling their own pockets while development in Bengal remained stalled," he said, highlighting how infrastructure lagged and industries collapsed over decades.

He pointed to the "curse of migration" forcing Bengal's talented youth to seek jobs elsewhere, promising that a change would ensure employment within the state: "The dream that Bengal's youth should find employment within Bengal itself-this is your dream, and fulfilling it is Modi's guarantee."

The Prime Minister framed the TMC’s rule as the latest chapter in this saga of misrule, where jobs are “openly sold” and recruitment is riddled with corruption.