Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday campaigned in north Bengal, accusing the Trinamul Congress government of Bengal of trying to stop Ram Navami celebrations, a day ahead of the festival.

Modi held public meetings in Balurghat and Raiganj, both BJP turfs.

“Across the country, people are gearing up to celebrate Ram Navami with renewed vigour as the Ram Mandir (in Ayodhya) has been built and Ram Lalla is being venerated there. However, in Bengal, the TMC government had conspired to halt Ram Navami celebrations. It is unfortunate that devotees had to go to court for permission. They have got it now. Tomorrow (Wednesday), there will be celebrations across Bengal,” Modi said in Balurghat.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has often voiced apprehensions that the saffron ecosystem might try to spread violence on this occasion. Modi, who has already held three public meetings in north Bengal where the BJP won seven of eight Lok Sabha seats in 2019, continued his diatribe against the Mamata government on the Ram Navami issue.

In Bengal, he said, people who want to take out processions for Ram Navami don’t get permission. “However, the TMC government here has given khula chhut (full freedom) to those who throw stones on Ram Navami and Durga Puja processions. The criminals and extortionists here have permission to torture women like in Sandeshkhali...,” he said in Raiganj.

“The chief minister had mentioned that elections in first and second phases (when elections would be held in 106 and 89 seats, respectively) have been scheduled within days of Ram Navami as a part of a plan. The BJP wants to play the religious card to draw votes. It has been proven today. Instead of speaking on development, the Prime Minister stressed a religious event,” said a senior Trinamul leader in Siliguri.

In his speech, Modi also took on the Trinamul Congress over “corruption”. “TMC means corruption and nepotism. The party doesn’t even want the voters to vote. Its leaders are allowed to openly intimidate voters. The party provides shelter to infiltrators and Rohingyas to change the demography of Bengal and to jeopardise law and order. Sandeshkhali is a glaring example of how criminals under Trinamul’s patronage tortured women,” the prime minister said in Raiganj.

Modi also tried to defend his government by elaborating on the central funds allotted to Bengal for social welfare schemes.

“We have provided funds to the state but here, the money was siphoned by corrupt people associated with Trinamul. Also, the state government here has put all efforts to stop implementation of central schemes or has plastered a new sticker (on the display boards),” he said.

In Balurghat, a district with ST population of around 16 per cent, Modi referred to the atonement ritual that three tribal women had to perform last year under the orders of a woman Trinamul Congress leader.

The trio, originally Trinamul Congress workers, had joined the BJP briefly. When they sought to rejoin the Trinamul Congress, they were asked to perform an atonement ritual. When the news spread, the party sidelined the woman leader.

“The BJP has put a tribal woman in the post of the President. But in Balurghat, people know about the torture meted out to tribal women by Trinamul. The party will be on its knees,” said Modi in Balurghat.

TMC counter

Bengal’s ruling Trinamul Congress has also lined up a series of processions to celebrate Ram Navami on Wednesday.

The party, sources said, will organise a mega rally in Howrah where the party’s Lok Sabha nominee Prasun Banerjee, Jadavpur nominee Saayoni Ghosh and senior leaders like Arup Roy and Manoj Tiwari will join.

The Howrah rally assumes significance as the area had witnessed communal violence over Ram Navami celebrations last year.

The party has taken similar initiatives in Hooghly, which also saw similar violence last year. The party’s candidate Rachna Banerjee will take part in the rally.

The party will organise processions in Birbhum’s Suri and West Burdwan’s Asansol.

CPM reacts

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India on Tuesday, alleging that certain contents of the speech delivered by the prime minister during his election campaign amounted to inciting religious sentiments
and a violation of the model code of conduct. Yechury urged the EC to “immediately intervene”.