Bengal’s progress lagged behind, my govt trying to make up for that: PM Modi

Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, March 2, said that West Bengal despite having lots of potential, lagged behind since the Independence and his government in the last 10 years has continuously been trying to make up for that.

“Bengal’s achievement as written in history slowed down substantially after Independence. Despite lots of potentials, the state progressed backwards since Independence. However, during the last 10 years I have tried my best to make up for that and that is why my government has focused on the railways network development in the state,” the Prime Minister said while inaugurating various central projects worth Rs 15,000 crore at Krishnanagar in the Nadia district of West Bengal on Saturday morning.

Emphasising that West Bengal is an important state in the eastern part of the country, PM Modi said that keeping that in mind he and his government are focusing on the development of rail, road and air connectivity in the state.”

Stressing that power connectivity is an important component for the development of any region, the Prime Minister said that he wants West Bengal to become self-reliant in power connectivity and hence his government is taking all possible measures to achieve that.

“On Friday, I inaugurated central projects worth over Rs 7,000 crore at a programme at Arambagh in Hooghly district. Today I inaugurated projects worth over Rs 15,000 crore. This means that in the last two days, a total of over Rs 22,000 crore worth of projects have been inaugurated. These projects will open new avenues of income generation for the youths,” the Prime Minister added.

PM Modi is also scheduled to address a political rally organised by the state unit of BJP in West Bengal on Saturday.

Criminals decide when to get arrested: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack against the West Bengal government over the law & order situation in the state, saying not the police but criminals themselves are free to decide when to get arrested.

Although the Prime Minister did not name anyone, his remarks were an indirect hint at the recently arrested leader of Trinamool Congress Sheikh Shahjahan who was arrested after 55 days following the attack on the ED team in Sandeshkhali.

The Prime Minister was addressing a rally organised by the state unit at Krishnanagar in Nadia district of West Bengal.

Prime Minister Modi congratulated the women of Sandeshkhali for finally coming out on the streets to protest against years of oppression, violence and harassment.

“It was women’s power at Sandeshkhali which finally pushed the ruling party to the back foot. I also congratulate the state leaders of my party in West Bengal for relentlessly standing by these women in their protests,” the Prime Minister said.

He also claimed that one area where the ruling Trinamool Congress has mastered is in converting any centrally-sponsored development scheme into a “scam”.

“The scam starts from where the state government puts its tag on any centrally-sponsored scheme,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister also set a target to win 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.