Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday sharpened the BJP’s pitch on women’s safety, declaring that all files related to alleged injustice and atrocities against women would be reopened once the party formed the government after the declaration of results on May 4.

Addressing a high-voltage rally on the Amarabati ground in Panihati, North 24-Parganas, Modi placed women at the centre of his campaign narrative.

“I would like to tell you that once the BJP forms the government after the announcement of results on May 4, all case files related to the injustice and atrocities on women will be reopened. I reiterate that the files will be reopened and this is Modi’s guarantee,” the Prime Minister said, drawing loud applause from the audience, which was largely made up of women.

The rally was organised in support of BJP candidates, including the mother of “Abhaya” — the junior doctor who had been raped and murdered at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Calcutta in 2024.

The assurance assumes significance against the backdrop of the RG Kar victim’s mother repeatedly seeking a fresh probe, expressing doubts over the CBI inquiry and the circumstances surrounding her daughter’s murder.

In Panihati and later in Jadavpur, Modi framed the electoral contest as one between dignity and dependence, seeking to recast the discourse among women voters around safety, autonomy and long-term empowerment.

“A sister today offered me a rakhi here... Today I would like to inform you that ensuring the security of these sisters would be my top priority,” he said, accusing the Trinamool Congress government of failing to ensure that women could move freely at night. “I came here to assure you today that the BJP will not allow the dreams of the women of Bengal to be shattered,” he added.

The Prime Minister had, in a series of recent rallies, repeatedly invoked incidents such as the rape and murder of the junior doctor and the gang rape of a minor in Hanskhali to argue that law and order deteriorated under the Trinamool Congress regime.

Coupling those incidents with a welfare narrative, he highlighted central schemes for housing, LPG connections, entrepreneurship support and direct benefit transfers, projecting them as instruments of sustained economic empowerment rather than short-term relief.

“Trinamool is an anti-women party, and the BJP is a party that runs on women-led development,” Modi said, alleging that the ruling party had even targeted “Abhaya’s mother” for contesting the election.

Pointing at her at the rally, Modi said: “See that this mother made her daughter a doctor. But the Maha-jungle Raj of Trinamool snatched her away. But the BJP has made this mother its candidate for the polls. The BJP has also provided leadership opportunities to the oppressed women of Sandeshkhali. But Trinamool is abusing them.”

Trinamool insiders maintain that the RG Kar movement remained largely confined to Calcutta and nearby regions, with strong participation from Left and civil society groups, segments where the BJP has limited organisational presence. State minister and Trinamool women’s wing leader Chandrima Bhattacharya said: “Women know how the BJP views women and what Didi has done for women.”