Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday lambasted a “stone-hearted” Trinamool Congress on Bengal’s soil but caused surprise with his silence on Mamata Banerjee’s storming of Enforcement Directorate raid sites, the biggest flashpoint between their parties in the run-up to Assembly elections.

Blindsided, BJP leaders argued a Prime Minister could not afford to speak on matters that are before the courts, while Trinamool claimed Modi’s reticence underlined that the chief minister had done nothing wrong. The CPM insinuated an understanding between the two.

“The TMC has become an enemy of Bengal’s poor. They have no concern for you and are busy filling their coffers,” Modi said during a nearly 50-minute speech at the Parivartan Sankalpa Sabha in Malda.

Narendra Modi addresses the public meeting in Malda on Saturday. Picture by Soumya De Sarkar

Modi said: “The TMC did not allow me to launch the Ayushman Bharat health (insurance) scheme. Such a stone-hearted and ruthless government should be sent on its way.”

Accompanied by senior police officers, Mamata had entered the sites of ED raids on her party’s election strategist, I-PAC, on January 8 and carried away “sensitive poll-related documents” that she alleged the central agency planned to pass on to the BJP.

The ED, which says the raids were connected to a coal theft racket, has urged the Supreme Court to direct the CBI to register FIRs against Mamata and the police officers on charges including theft, dacoity, robbery, attempt to murder and trespass.

In Malda, Modi devoted nearly half his speech to attacking Trinamool over alleged “infiltration” — illegal immigration from Bangladesh — and the politics ofhooliganism.

Some within the Bengal BJP seemed crestfallen at Modi’s decision to sidestep the events of January 8, which the state unit leadership as well as many central heavyweights had cited to brand Mamata a “file chor”.

While many BJP leaders on Saturday sought to justify Modi’s silence by underlining the subject’s “sub judice” status, some others suggested a reminder of Mamata’s actions from that day would have added meat to the Prime Minister’s attack on Trinamool.

“The Prime Minister doubtless mounted his most scathing attack on Trinamool at today’s Malda rally. However, we had expected him to dwell on the recent ‘file heist’ by Mamata Banerjee during the ED raids, which has led to Bengal’s voters, particularly the educated middle class, asking questions,” a BJPleader said.

“There’s another rally in Singur on Sunday; he may raise the issue there,”he hoped.

State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, who had commented on the January 8 events in Modi’s presence on Saturday, said: “As a political leader, I can speak on the issue but as Prime Minister, he cannot comment on a matter that is sub judice.”

Debjit Sarkar, the state BJP’s chief spokesperson, echoed Bhattacharya.

“Everyone saw what Mamata Banerjee did that day. People saw how she illegally intervened in an ED investigation along with top police officers and the chief secretary and took away the files,”Sarkar said.

Trinamool claimedthat Modi had been unable to find anything to target Mamata with.

“It’s not that he deliberately avoided the issue: he knows that Didi did nothing wrong on January 8,” party spokesperson Arup Chakraborty said.

“Had there been any proof (of wrongdoing by Mamata), the Prime Minister would have attacked her. He knows that what his party’s leaders have done is merely give the issue a political colour.”

CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said: “The PM did not want to embarrass Mamata Banerjee. He accorded her the same indulgence during his speech as he had (on January 8) when he allowed her to take away files from ED custody.”