Abhishek Banerjee launched a blistering attack on Narendra Modi's Singur speech on Sunday, and mocked the Prime Minister's slogan for the need for change in Bengal.

At a crowded road show in Nadia's Chapra, the Trinamool Congress national general secretary spoke moments after Modi's much-awaited speech in Singur, which turned into a damp squib for many even in the BJP because of his silence on industry at a venue so charged with symbolism in Bengal.

The Prime Minister, wrapping up a two-day campaign blitzkrieg that began in Malda, had coined a new rhythmic slogan: “Paltano dorkar, chai BJP sorkar (Change is necessary, so a BJP government is needed)".

“Modiji said change is needed. I agree with you, change is needed. But the people of Bengal will not change, Modiji. It is you who will change,” Abhishek thundered, his voice cutting through the roar of supporters in the well-attended road show in Chapra, some 100km from Modi's venue.

“The outsiders from Delhi and Gujarat will change. Those who used to start meetings with Jai Shri Ram now start with Jai Ma Kali and Jai Ma Durga. You have changed. In the coming days, Bengal will break the very back of your arrogance, and your seat of power in Delhi will be demolished," Abhishek said.

Sources in Trinamool said they found Modi's silence on industry and private investment at the Singur rally laughable, given the venue's significance because of the aborted Tata Nano project. "It makes our counteroffensive easier," a leader said.

Abhishek, well aware of the timing of his invective, was at his most hawkish.

"Is it now up to their whims? Whenever they wished, they forced crores of people to stand in queues in the name of demonetisation. Whenever they want, we have to show proof of citizenship. What we will wear or eat, whom we will talk to, whom we will love or be friends with, will all of that be decided by the BJP?" he asked, in a jibe at the saffron ecosystem's propensity to dictate personal choices.

"Do you want 10 crore people to fall at the feet of outsiders? Do you want us to trade our self-respect? If we bow our heads at all, it will be before our gods, our elders, and our parents, not before the executioners of Delhi.... If anyone has to change, it is the BJP leaders, the outsiders from Delhi — the jomidar (feudal lords), not us," he added.

Abhishek accused BJP functionaries in Nadia and other pockets of Bengal of misappropriating funds meant for infrastructure and the 100-day work scheme.

The thematic anchor of the speech remained the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in poll-bound Bengal, which his aunt, chief minister and Trinamool chairperson Mamata Banerjee, has branded as a high-tech, mega conspiracy in cahoots with the allegedly compromised Election Commission to disenfranchise millions the state that keeps denying power to the saffron camp.

He also dared the saffron camp to a statistical duel.

“You decide the time, place, the platform. I will be there with Mamata Banerjee’s report card. My name won't stay Abhishek Banerjee if I do not defeat them on every single point," said Abhishek.

As the Sunday sun set on Chapra, Abhishek’s closing salvo revised the stakes for a fourth consecutive term for his aunt, setting the benchmark of 250 seats for Trinamool and vowing to reduce the BJP to fewer than 50 in the 294-seat House.

“Last time we said Bengal wants none but its own daughter (Mamata Banerjee). This time I say, no matter how many attacks you launch, Bengal will remain with its daughter," he said.

“They claim to be protectors and flagbearers of Hinduism. I see many Hindu brothers and sisters (here).... The Gita is the only holy text of Hinduism that comprises the direct words of Shri Krishna. In the 18th sloka of the 5th chapter of the Gita, Shri Krishna teaches that he resides not only in every human being but in every living being,” Abhishek said. “Yet, at a Gita chanting event, the BJP’s so-called protectors of Hinduism, the executioners of the BJP, attacked a man simply for selling chicken (puffs). This is the BJP’s version of Hinduism.”

CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said: “How could Modi have said anything when it was his senior colleague (Union defence minister) Rajnath Singh who sat with Mamata Banerjee when she gifted the Tata project to Gujarat chief minister Modi?”

In a virtual echo, the Congress’s Soumya Aich Roy said Modi and Mamata were two sides of the same “RSS coin”. “It was tragicomic, observing the BJP’s Bengal leadership today. How their hopes were dashed to the Singur ground by their supreme leader,” he said. “It is very clear, writ large on Modi’s face, that Bengal is a lost cause for his party. Having said that, there is no difference between the BJP and Trinamool, which is Bengal's real tragedy."