Guwahati: Election season is round the corner, and the bugles have already been sounded by political parties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a busy Sunday, addressing rallies in Assam and West Bengal, two of the five states where Assembly polls are due by May.
Gloating over his party’s recent triumphs in Bihar Assembly as well as municipal bodies in Maharashtra and Kerala, Modi said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has become the first choice of voters in the country.
“Today, the BJP has become the first choice of people all over the country. Over the past one to one-and-a-half years, the nation’s faith in the BJP has been steadily increasing,” PM Modi said at Assam’s Kaliabor where he laid the foundation stone of Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project, worth over Rs 6,950 Crore.
“In the recent Bihar polls, despite being in power for 20 years, the public gave the BJP a record number of votes and seats. Two days ago, the results of the municipal polls of Maharashtra were declared. In Mumbai, which is one of the largest municipal corporations in the world, the public there has given the BJP a record mandate,” Modi elaborated.
He claimed the country has discarded Congress.
“In elections held in recent years, there’s a clear mandate that shows the public today wants good governance and development. Their focus is on development and heritage, which is why they like the BJP. These elections also show that the country has continuously discarded the negative politics of the Congress. In Mumbai where the Congress was formed, today the party is placed at the 4th or 5th position. The same is the case with Maharashtra where they ruled for m
any years,” Modi said.
He went on to state that the Congress has lost the nation’s trust because it lacked an agenda for development, and such a party can never do good for Assam.
Citing measures taken by the BJP government in Assam to remove illegal settlers, Modi accused the Congress of encouraging infiltration of illegal immigrants to gain votes and power.
“The Congress, in its lust for power and votes, handed over Assam’s land to infiltrators. For decades, they formed the government during which infiltration continued to increase, and the infiltrators began encroaching on land and animal corridors… This led to an increase in poaching and smuggling of wild animal parts,” he said.
“That’s why we have to be careful about the Congress. They did this many places, including Bihar, but the voters there delivered a resounding defeat. I am sure they will get a similar answer in Assam as well (when the state goes to polls in a few months),” added Modi, who flagged off two new Amrit Bharat Express trains – Guwahati (Kamakhya)-Rohtak Amrit Bharat Express and Dibrugarh-Lucknow (Gomti Nagar) Amrit Bharat Express.
‘Bengal wants to change 15 years of TMC’s ‘mahajungle raj’
At Bengal’s Singur, Modi tore into the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), saying people across the state want to end 15 years of what “mahajungle raj.”
The Prime Minister told the audience that people of Bengal, fed up with the TMC’s misrule, are determined to remove the party from power.
He asked the people whether the state government should be “punished” for “acting against their interests”.
Slamming the Mamata Banerjee-helmed government, Modi claimed it has been preventing the benefits of central welfare schemes from reaching people in the state.
He also alleged that ‘infiltrators’ have been residing in West Bengal with fake documents, hence they have to be identified and sent back to their countries. “TMC helping infiltrators; your vote to BJP will ensure ouster of illegal immigrants from Bengal,” Modi said.