Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the April 1 hostage situation in Malda’s Mothabari resulted from the “Maha Jungle Raj” established by Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress, where judicial officers and constitutional bodies are not safe.
The communal overtones of his speech left no ambiguity regarding the Prime Minister’s intent to double down on the saffron ecosystem’s weapon of choice — religious identity-based polarisation for electoral gains, although it has failed in the past in pluralist Bengal.
Addressing his first election campaign rally at Cooch Behar’s Raas Mela ground on Sunday evening, Modi said: “You have seen what happened in Malda two or three days ago. The entire country witnessed it, and law-abiding citizens were utterly shocked to see how judicial officers were kept hostage for hours there.”
“What type of government is running here? What kind of administrative arrangement is this where even judicial officers and constitutional bodies are not safe? How can anyone expect that this government will provide safety and security to the common people? It is not only the arrogance or misrule of TMC, but also the outcome of the Maha Jungle Raj set up by them,” Modi said.
Trinamool had been attempting to strangulate constitutional bodies whenever they faced legal scrutiny, Modi said.
On April 1, seven judicial officers were confined for hours at the BDO office in Malda’s Mothabari by thousands of people whose names had been deleted following the SIR process. Hours later, when police and central forces rescued the officers, including three women, a mob attacked their vehicles with bricks and bamboo sticks.
The Supreme Court of India took suo motu cognisance of the incident and criticised the attack, stating it was intended to demoralise judicial officers.
Following instructions from the Election Commission, the NIA took over the case and started a probe to identify those responsible for the attack and determine whether it resulted from lapses by the police and administration.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant will hold a special hearing on Monday at 4 pm, after the court’s regular hours, regarding the “unprecedented” April 1 incident in Malda district.
Besides the April 1 incident, the bench, also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi, is expected to take up certain other connected issues relating to the ongoing SIR process and consequential complaints/objections regarding the inclusion/exclusion of voters.
On April 2, a piqued Supreme Court directed the state chief secretary, director general of police, Malda district magistrate and superintendent of police to appear virtually before it on Monday to explain why they failed to act despite repeated SOS from the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and other registry officials.
At the last hearing, the bench termed the Malda incident as a “brazen attempt” to “browbeat” the entire judiciary and the Supreme Court.
Modi on Sunday used the Malda incident to strengthen the BJP’s narrative, alleging that Trinamool had been patronising illegal infiltrators, which he claimed had become a threat to Bengal.
“A dangerous change in demography has appeared in the bordering areas of Bengal. These infiltrators get direct patronage from the TMC. That party inducts them into its syndicates. As a result, there is a serious security threat to the people of Bengal. The government is identifying each infiltrator and taking steps to deport them from the country,” Modi said.
Modi expressed full faith in the Election Commission — which every non-NDA party has attacked in recent memory, for its allegedly criminal bias in favour of the BJP — stating that the election would be free and fair and that a change in power in Bengal is certain.
“I have full faith in the Election Commission. This time, the elections will be free and fair. There will be no atmosphere of fear during these elections, and this time the vote will be for change,” he said.
Modi played the Hindutva card with the polarisation agenda, by alleging that Trinamool was opposing the SIR process to protect infiltrators and deprive refugees of citizenship under the CAA.
“The TMC government is trying to safeguard infiltrators. For this reason, it is opposing the SIR, as these infiltrators would otherwise be identified. The TMC is also threatening to stop the CAA, which means they want to snatch citizenship from refugees while providing it to illegal infiltrators. This is because the TMC considers them its vote bank,” he said, adding that Hindus are under threat due to appeasement politics.
He criticised the naming of the TMC manifesto as ishtehar, linking it to a 1905 event that has no bearing whatsoever on a Bengal election in 2026.
“You have seen that the TMC has released its manifesto but did not name it in Bengali. They called it ishtehar. Think about how they are changing Bengal’s identity...,” Modi said.
He asserted that political change in Bengal is inevitable and the new government would establish the rule of law, identify the corrupt and ensure punishment.
He added that those who had looted public money would have to return it to the people of Bengal once the new government comes to power.
Modi also made arduous attempts at speaking Bengali in his apparently teleprompted speech, using some phrases and words, and highlighted how north Bengal was “deprived”. That, despite most north Bengal MLAs and MPs belonging to his party, which is also the ruling party at the Centre.
Additional reporting by our Delhi bureau and Anirban Choudhury in Cooch Behar