Narendra Modi on Wednesday resorted to the national anthem and Bengali icons in a bid to establish that leaders of his party, air-dropped by the dozen in the state, are not bohiragawto (outsiders), as Mamata Banerjee spoke about alleged hordes of outsiders sent to destroy Bengal’s ethos.

The Prime Minister and chief minister, some 200km apart in East Midnapore and Bankura, respectively, devoted significant time in their speeches to the bohiragawto issue.

“That Bengal, which brought together the whole of India with the thought of Vande Mataram, in that Bengal, Mamatadidi is talking of bohiragawto. This soil belongs to Bankimbabu (Chandra Chattopadhyay), Rabi Thakur (Rabindranath Tagore), (Netaji) Subhas Bose, Matangini Hazra, Syama Prasad Mookerjee. The soil of Bengal and the soil of India...No Indian is a bohiragawto on this soil,” said Modi, peppered with laboured Bengali, at East Midnapore’s Contai.

Though critical of Mamata’s alleged attempts to polarise voters over regionalist sub-nationalism with her bohiragawto versus Bangla’r nijeyr meye (Bengal’s own daughter) pitch, the saffron ecosystem has appeared unsure of how the outsider label will impact the BJP in this election. Modi and other top BJP leaders, therefore, have been found making a fervent pitch that the BJP does not exclusively represent the Sangh parivar’s Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan vision now.

Narendra Modi (in PTI picture) with Trinamul turncoat and Suvendu Adhikari’s father Sisir Adhikari in Contai

“No Indian is bohiragawto here. Everyone is a child of Bharat Mata (Mother India). Friends, Bengal from where Gurudev (Tagore) stitched all Indians in one garland... from this soil itself Gurudev said, which we repeat every day, “Punjab Sindhu Gujarat Maratha Dravid Utkal Banga / Vindhya Himachala Yamuna Ganga ucchala-jaladhi-taranga,” Modi quoted from the national anthem by Tagore.

“...Didi, the people of Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur’s soil don’t consider anyone bohiragawto,” he added.

However, he added that the BJP’s chief minister in Bengal, should it come to power, would be a son of the soil.

Trinamul sources said Modi’s speech on Wednesday, three days before the first phase of polls, made it clear how Mamata managed to get under the BJP’s skin with the bohiragawto plank.

Mamata was relentless in her attack against the BJP.

“They can’t even properly pronounce the scripted Bengali they use…even their slogan, Sonar Bangla. Will those who can’t even speak the language properly rule Bengal? They are bringing goons from outside. Who are they? They are the same people who tortured Dalits, tribals and minorities (elsewhere in India),” said Mamata at her rally in Bankura.

Mamata, yet again, clarified who according to her campaign pitch was bohiragawto.

“We don’t call those (bohiragawto) who have made Bengal their home, from all over the country. Goons that are now being exported to Bengal for winning the election, destroying its culture… they are the outsiders,” said Mamata.

‘Insult to Nandigram'

Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused Mamata Banerjee of insulting the people of Nandigram in a hint to the March 10 incident in East Midnapore in which the chief minister was injured. He said attempts were made to defame Nandigram with false allegations.

Modi’s speech seemed to be drawn from Trinamul turncoat Suvendu Adhikari’s allegations of Mamata insulting the people of Nandigram with her immediate reaction after her accident when she had blamed “four-five people” for deliberately slamming the door of the SUV. Mamata and Adhikari are contesting from the Nandigram seat that goes to polls on April 1.

“Didi, Nandigram gave you honour...And now, you are defaming the people of Nandigram... in front of the whole nation,” Modi said.

Additional reporting by Anshuman Phadikar