Prime Minister Modi today kickstarted his election campaign in West Bengal from the Thakur Nagar town of North 24 Parganas district. PM Modi was accompanied by National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and MP Rupa Ganguly. The rally was organized by BJP-aligned faction of All India Matua Mahasangha.
The Matua community of the region has great electoral potential and also belong to Schedule Caste community. They hail from Bangladesh, who had migrated to India in the wake of religious persecution.
The sea of masses here is evident as to why Mamata Didi is resorting to violence in Bengal: PM Shri @narendramodi in Thakurnagar, West Bengal #BengalWithModi pic.twitter.com/nMKWbY3aep
— BJP (@BJP4India) February 2, 2019
PM Modi remembers Thakur Harischandra and Vibutibhushan Bandopadhya
PM Modi gave tribute to Harishchandra Thakur, who is a revered figure West Bengal, for his immense works done for the untouchables or the downtrodden section of society. He had also founded a sect called Matua, which is followed by large sections of the region. He also remembered Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda and Syama Prasad Mukherjee, as they all belonged to West Bengal.
PM also remembred Bengali writer Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhya, whose works were often based on social problems and their various aspects. PM Modi said that his works narrate the older days of colonialism effectively, and greatly focuses on problems of youth like unemployment.
PM Modi then said that for West Bengal, not much has changed since India’s Independence. But, he added, that it can not be allowed to continue as the idea of New India is totally village oriented.
PM Modi calls the Union Budget 2019, a historic one
On 1st February, Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal delivered the Union Budget 2019, which had major announcements for sections like the middle-class and small farmers.
“More than 12 crore families of small farmers, 30-40 crore workers and 3 crore middle-class families will directly benefit from the schemes announced in the budget yesterday,” PM Modi said. He also talked about the PM Kisan Yojna, under which small farmers will be entitled to a sum of Rs 6000, per annum, He said that the amount will aid farmer, in many ways and contribute to his upliftment.
This budget, PM Modi said, is a mere interim one. The one, that will be presented by NDA dring next tenure, will further our goals and extend help to middle class and farmers.
PM Modi said that after the introduction of Direct Benefit Transfer during his regime, big Syndicates, middle-man cannot extort money from poor meant for them. He said DBT has helped the government reach directly to the people, which could only happen because he had already opened 3 crores bank accounts in West Bengal for the sake of the poor.
PM Modi slams CM Banerjee for violence in the state
PM Modi appreciated the large crowd attending PM the rally. He said that such large support to BJP had compelled CM Banerjee to resort to violence. He said that people often crying about the danger to democracy are now aligning with the same politician who is indulging in violence.
PM Modi says Congress is following farmers on the issue of loan-waivers
PM Modi said that Congress party has taken farmers for granted. He said that party is only using farmers’ innocence and fooling them on the issue of loan waiver.
He counted cases of Madhya Pradesh where a farmer had got Rs 13 as loan-waiver against his loan amount if Rs 2 lakh 50 thousand. He also said that CM of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot has already given up on loan waiver, as he cannot come to terms of a large amount of money required to do so.
PM Modi also slammed the JD(S)- Congress government of Karnataka, where he alleged that the government has sent law enforcement agencies behind farmers who are unable to repay the loans.
PM Modi asks parties to vote in favour of Citizenship Amendment Bill
PM Modi said that partition was forced upon people who were compelled to migrate to new places. He said communities like Hindus, Sikhs and Jains have been subject to persecution in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh and are seeking India’s refuge. PM Modi asked CM Mamta Banerjee to come forward and support the bill, in order to safeguard interests of persecuted minorities.
The PM stated that the persecuted minorities are those people whose lives have been torn due to India’s partition and subsequent violence they faced in the neighbouring countries. He added that they should get a chance to live respectfully as citizens of India.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on 8th January, seeks an amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955, to provide citizenship to the persecuted minorities (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Jains, and Christians) from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
A huge crowd had turned up to hear the PM’s speech. After a section of the crowd broker the security cordon, the PM decided to cut his speech short to avoid a stampede-like situation.
