PM Modi Launches BJP's Mission Bengal With Focus on 'Nirmamta'

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the tone and tenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal.

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

Addressing a public meeting in Alipurduar in North Bengal, he launched a scathing attack on the "ruthless" Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal by bringing up the recent riots that broke out in the state, the teacher recruitment scam, and corruption.

He made the remarks without taking Mamata Banerjee's name but used the term "nirmamta", which means cruelty in Hindi, in a veiled attack and wordplay on Mamata Banerjee's name. "The ruthless character of this government was seen in the Murshidabad and Malda riots, where a ruling party MLA led the riots. They ransacked the homes and belongings of our mothers and sisters, and the police remained mute spectators. One can assume what happened there during the riots," Modi said.

The bulk of PM Modi's speech was around the familiar themes of corruption under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government, the stonewalling of Centrally sponsored welfare schemes, and the success of Operation Sindoor.

PM Modi devoted a majority of his 38-minute address to the various corrupt activities of the Trinamool Congress. He dwelt upon the corruption in the recruitment of schoolteachers, where the Supreme Court had invalidated the appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff of state-aided schools, saying the entire hiring process was "totally vitiated and tainted".

"We saw the level of corruption of this government in the teacher recruitment examination. They sent the lives of young teachers to unlimited darkness. They are not even ready to accept their faults. They are blaming the court for their verdict," the PM said.