Trinamul’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday drew a distinction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Mamata Banerjee to claim Trinamul and the Bengal government were far ahead of the Centre and the BJP in meeting commitments made to people.

“Whose guarantee do you want, Modi’s or Didi’s? Though BJP had won from here in 2019, the central government and the BJP MPs did nothing for this region. We didn’t win in 2019 but Trinamul has always stood in your support,” said Abhishek, while addressing a public meeting in Dhupguri this afternoon.

In Jalpaiguri, Trinamul has taken the strategy to flag two issues, the tornado that razed vast areas of the district on March 31, and the creation of a new Dhupguri sub-division.

In his speech, Abhishek mentioned that on September 2 (last year), he had promised that the people of Dhupguri would get a new sub-division by December 31.

“Accordingly, the state Cabinet approved the proposal in October but it got delayed for two months because a clearance was needed from the judiciary. Finally, in January, the clearance came and you got the sub-division. We do what we say unlike the BJP. They only make hollow promises to draw votes. The Prime Minister comes here once every five years to seek votes. This time, you should teach them a lesson,” said the Diamond Harbour MP.

He also mentioned that once the elections are over, the state will take the task to improve the infrastructure of the local hospital in Dhupguri. “In three months, the hospital would be upgraded to a 100-bedded sub-divisional hospital. Ask Jayanta Roy (the departing MP and the BJP candidate of Jalpaiguri), what he has done for the voters in past five years,” said Abhishek,

In Jalpaiguri, Trinamul has fielded Dhupguri MLA Nirmal Chandra Roy in the seat. He won at the by-poll held last year. If he wins the seat, there will be a by-poll again.

Abhishek, while speaking on the issue, said he would seek names of prospective candidates for the by-poll.

“I will be here in June and will ask you to select the candidate. If required, we will conduct a voting exercise. The same can be done in selection of candidates for the local civic body where elections are due. We will field only such candidates whom people want,” said the Trinamul leader.