Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday targeted the Trinamool Congress government over the Sandeshkhali issue saying that the Mamata Banerjee-led government is trying to protect the accused. He also made an all-out attack against the opposition's I.N.D.I.A bloc saying since he does not have a family, he can openly talk against nepotism.
Addressing a women's rally in Barasat in North 24 Parganas district PM Modi said, "Sandeshkhali has shown that BJP is the only voice of women in this country." "Whatever happened in Sandeshkhali will put anyone to shame but the TMC govt does not care about your issues. TMC is putting efforts to protect the accused of the people of Bengal. ," he said.
"The state govt has got a shock from the High Court as well as the Supreme Court. TMC leaders have done atrocities on the women of the state. TMC has full confidence in their leader but not in the women of West Bengal...," he added.
Modi's address in Barasat comes amid a row in Sandeshkhali in the same district where the saffron party staged a series of protests against Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan. The TMC leader, arrested by Bengal police last week, is accused of land grab and sexual harassment.
Launching an attack on the I.N.D.I.A bloc over the 'parivaar' jibe by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Modi said, "Seeing NDA forming its govt in the Centre, the INDI Alliance has begun to shake now. They have started hurling abuses at me now."
"They have started hurling abuses at me now. They are asking about my family. They're saying I talk against 'Parivarvad' because I don't have any family," he said, adding, "These people want to know about my family. I want these 'Parivarvadis' to witness our gathering and understand that all the people present here are my family..."
Earlier in the day, he was in Kolkata where he launched developmental projects worth Rs 15,400 crore.
The Prime Minister inaugurated the Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of Kolkata Metro's East-West corridor, India's first underwater metro service.
He virtually flagged off train services on Pune Metro from Ruby Hall Clinic to Ramwadi stretch; Kochi Metro Rail Phase I Extension project (Phase IB) from SN Junction Metro station to Tripunithura Metro station; Agra Metro's stretch from Taj East Gate to Mankameshwar; and Duhai-Modinagar (North) section of Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor and also lay the foundation stone for extension project of Pune Metro Rail phase 1 between Pimpri Chinchwad Metro-Nigdi.
The PM took a ride in the underwater metro line where he interacted with staff members of the Kolkata metro and students. Bharatiya Janata Party Bengal chief Sukanta Majumdar and West Bengal Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari accompanied Modi during the ride.