Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged an end to what he claimed was a “Maha Jungle Raj” in Bengal, playing on the label “Jungle Raj” that NDA campaigners habitually use to attack the 15 years of RJD rule in Bihar.
“You saw that just last month, the people of Bihar again gave a massive mandate to the NDA for development,” Modi told a crowd gathered at Taherpur, Nadia, through an audio message after fog prevented his army chopper from landing near the venue.
“After the huge BJP-NDA victory in Bihar, I had said the River Ganga flows from Bihar to Bengal. Bihar has thus paved the way for the BJP’s victory in Bengal as well.”
Following last month’s triumph in Bihar, the Prime Minister had said the party’s next target was to uproot “Jungle Raj” from Bengal.
He upgraded the label to “Maha Jungle Raj” after arriving in Bengal, alleging corruption and nepotism on Mamata Banerjee’s watch and implying the state was worse off than the Bihar of Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi (1990-2005).
“Bihar has unanimously rejected the Jungle Raj. Even 20 years after (the end of RJD rule), it has given the BJP-NDA more seats than before,” Modi said in his 17-minute audio address from Calcutta airport, played on a mobile on the Taherpur dais, before leaving for Assam.
“Now we want freedom from the Maha Jungle Raj that is prevailing in West Bengal.”
A senior BJP leader said “Maha Jungle Raj” would now become the catchphrase of the party’s Assembly poll campaign in Bengal, a state it claims is groaning under lawlessness, corruption and the lack of safety for women.
“Modiji has clearly said that after Bihar, Bengal is the BJP’s prime target. Although he failed to attend the rally physically, disappointing thousands of people, he set the tone for the attack on the Trinamool Congress,” the BJP leader said.
Modi chanted a slogan already adopted by his party — “Banchte chai, BJP chai (We want to survive, so we want the BJP)” — but changed the last word, although without affecting the meaning.
“That is why, from the elderly to the children of West Bengal, (all) are saying — house to house, village to city, lane to lane, there is only one slogan — ‘Banchte chai, BJP tai’,” Modi said.
Trinamool tore into Modi’s use of the phrase “Maha Jungle Raj” for Bengal.
“Bengal is a paradise amid the misgovernance in BJP-ruled states,” spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
“Before tarnishing West Bengal with ‘Maha Jungle Raj’, he should look at the misgovernance and Jungle Raj in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and other BJP-ruled states, where bridges are collapsing and people are being killed amid a state of lawlessness.”
Modi accused Trinamool of running a regime of corruption and “cut money”. He claimed the party had adopted the modes of misgovernance once practised by the Left Front which, he said, had ruined Bengal.
“The communists, the bearers of the red flag, ruined Tripura over 30 years. The people of Tripura gave us a chance, and we are taking the state forward in line with their dreams,” he said.
“Bengal was also freed from the red flag, and there was hope that something good would happen. But unfortunately, the TMC absorbed all the bad elements and practices of the Left. As a result, the problems multiplied.”
He added: “Bengal needs a BJP government that will restore its glory at double-engine speed.”
Modi said he had no problem being opposed personally but wanted to know why Trinamool was, allegedly, blocking development in Bengal.
“If the TMC wants to oppose Modi, let it do so — hundreds or thousands of times. If they want to oppose the BJP, let them do that too. But my brothers and sisters of Bengal, I cannot understand why the development of West Bengal is being blocked,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the state government’s opposition to the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls was meant to protect infiltrators.
Opposition parties and other critics have alleged that the SIR — which is demanding documentary proof of citizenship — is a way of disenfranchising the poor and marginalised to give the BJP an electoral advantage.
“Unfortunately, slogans of ‘Go back, Modi’ are raised, but there is silence on ‘Go back, infiltrators’,” the Prime Minister said, attacking Bengal’s ruling party.
“Those who want to capture Bengal are the dearest to the TMC. This is the true face of the party. To protect infiltrators, the TMC is even opposing the SIR in Bengal.”
Trinamool accused Modi of maligning Bengal. It contended that it was clear from the draft electoral rolls that the enumeration process had failed to detect any Bangladeshis or Rohingyas, as BJP leaders had alleged it would.
Instead, those left out of the list were largely Hindus, particularly members of the Matua community, the party claimed.
Some Matuas joined Trinamool in criticising Modi for failing to speak a word about the post-SIR future of Hindu refugees like them, despite the community voting for the BJP even in the 2024 general election.