Crime, corruption thriving under Trinamool rule: Modi

Continuing to target West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today accused the party of fostering an environment in the state where "crime and corruption have thrive".

"TMC means 'Tu, mein aur corruption' [you, I and corruption]," Modi said while speaking at a rally in Krishnagar in Nadia district, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

He said "the way TMC is working here, they have disappointed the people of West Bengal. People have continuously voted for TMC but this party has become another name for atrocities and betrayal," remarked the prime minister during the rally.

Modi alleged that "for TMC, the priority is not the development of Bengal, but corruption, nepotism and betrayal. TMC wants to keep the people of Bengal poor so that its politics and game continues."

Modi earlier inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for several development projects worth Rs 15,000 crore in Krishnanagar city.

Tensions between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and TMC are escalating, particularly in the wake of the incidents in Sandeshkhali area of North 24 Parganas district where the party leaders have been charged with forcibly occupying tribal lands and sexually harassing women.

The arrest of Shahjahan Sheikh, a TMC strong man facing accusations of sexual assault and land grab in Sandeshkhali, has added fuel to the ongoing political faceoff.

Modi said that instead of supporting the "distressed mothers and sisters" of Sandeshkhali, the state government sided with the accused.

"The mothers and sisters kept pleading for justice but the TMC government did not listen to them. They took votes in the name of 'Maa Mati Manush' but now the mothers and sisters are weeping in West Bengal. The situation in the state is such that here, the criminals decide when to get arrested," he said. Shahjahan was arrested a couple of days ago after being on the run for nearly two months.

In his speech today, Modi set a target for the state BJP to win all the 42 Lok Sabha seats. BJP had won 18 of those 42 seats in the last Lok Sabha poll in 2019. "Seeing you all gathered here in such huge numbers is giving me the confidence to say 'NDA sarkaar, 400 paar'," NDA will cross 400 seats in Lok Sabha in coming elections)," he told the rally.