Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a conciliatory note on Monday as he celebrated the BJP’s landmark victory in Bengal, declaring “Banglay poriborton hoyechhe” while underlining “badla nahi, badlav” — change, not revenge.
Donning dhuti-panjabi as he addressed party workers at the BJP headquarters, Modi urged restraint and requested all parties to end Bengal’s entrenched “cycle of violence”, issuing an appeal against post-poll clashes.
“Today, as Bengal enters a new phase of change, I also want to make an earnest appeal to every political party in Bengal,” he said.
“Over the past decades in Bengal, countless lives have been ruined because of political violence. I firmly believe that these electoral habits of Bengal must change from today onwards.”
Modi said the BJP win should mark a shift towards development and stability.
“When the BJP wins, the talk should not be of revenge but of change. Not of fear but of the future,” he said, as chants of “Modi, Modi” punctuated his speech.
The Prime Minister dedicated the victory to the people of Bengal and BJP workers, while promising firm action against “ghuspetiyas” (infiltrators) and announcing the rollout of Ayushman Bharat, which the outgoing Mamata Banerjee government had avoided implementing.
“I want to assure every citizen of Bengal that the BJP will work relentlessly towards a better future for Bengal. Now, in Bengal, women will be safe, youths will get employment, and migration will stop,” Modi said.
Modi added: “At the first cabinet meeting, the Ayushman Yojana will be cleared.… And strict action will be taken against infiltrators.”
He said the BJP’s huge win was a “hoonkar” (roar) by the people to uproot the politics of “fear and appeasement”.
He invoked Syama Prasad Mookerjee — who founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the BJP’s predecessor, in 1951 — saying his legacy had found vindication in the party’s victory.
He recalled Mookerjee’s efforts to keep Bengal within India, prompting slogans from party workers celebrating the moment.
Modi said that with the Bengal victory, the BJP-NDA now governed the entire stretch from Gangotri to Ganga Sagar.
“From Gangotri to Ganga Sagar, it is the lotus in full bloom,” he said, citing the party’s presence in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and now Bengal as a sign of expanding political consolidation.
Modi underscored that for the first time in nearly half a century, India would not have a single Left-ruled state.
With the defeat of the LDF in Kerala, the Left finds itself without power in any state for the first time since 1977 — a development Modi termed a “major shift in Indian politics”.
He used the opportunity to target the Congress, accusing it of aligning with a “declining” communist ideology.
“This is not merely a political shift; it’is a shift in mindset. Today’s India seeks opportunity, development, trust, progress and stability,” Modi said.
While “Maoism is in its last breath in the forests”, he said, “urban Naxals are crowding the Congress”.
The Prime Minister linked the defeats of the Trinamool Congress and the DMK to their stance against the proposed amendment to the women’s reservation law in Parliament. He claimed that women voters had “punished” parties seen as opposing women’s reservation in the legislatures.
Opposition parties have clarified that they are not against women’s reservation – already legislated in 2023 – but against amending and linking it to a delimitation exercise that would benefit the BJP.
“I had said that those opposing reservation for women will face their wrath. The sisters and daughters of our nation have now punished the Congress, Trinamool and the DMK,” the Prime Minister said.
He said the Congress had come to power in Kerala because of anti-incumbency against the Left, and that the women voters in the state would “respond” in the next election cycle.
Modi said the Samajwadi Party, too, would face the anger of women voters in next year’s Uttar Pradesh elections.
“The anti-women Samajwadi Party will never be able to wash off its sins, no matter what it tries,” he said.