KOLKATA: Stressing that “women’s welfare is Modi’s guarantee”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday slammed Congress and Trinamool for “conspiring” against women and blocking the passage of amendments to the women’s reservation law in Parliament.Modi alleged that “anti-woman” Trinamool opposed the amendments as it does not want women to “speak for their rights” and sounded confident that BJP would form govt in Bengal with a “massive” mandate. “The mothers and sisters of Bengal will punish TMC for this. Maha jungleraaj should be given maha punishment,” he said.The PM’s last round of campaign before the first phase of the assembly polls on April 23, during which he addressed four rallies in six hours, saw him attempt a direct outreach with voters with a stopover at a jhalmuri shop in Jhargram, the video of which went viral.Addressing the day’s first rally in Bankura’s Barjora, Modi said, “Pregnant women will get Rs 21,000, and another Rs 5,000 after childbirth. There will be free vaccination for cervical cancer. Many women hide their diseases fearing medical expenses. Jan Aushadhi will give medicines at 80% discount. Women’s welfare is Modi’s guarantee.” The other three rallies he addressed were in Purulia, Jhargram and Midnapore.Calling TMC “maa virodhi” for its opposition to the amendments to the women’s reservation law, Modi said, “Trinamool has deceived Bengal’s daughters, who wanted 33% reservation (in Lok Sabha and state legislatures) from 2029. Modi tried to implement that.” Modi said, “If women join legislatures in large numbers, they will speak for their rights. TMC thinks woman MLAs from villages and districts will make them accountable for their misdeeds.” To prevent that, he said, “Trinamool connived with Congress” to block the amendments.Alleging that Bengal’s women are deprived of facilities, Modi referred to the Matri Shakti Bharosa Card that the Center recently launched for women to avail of government benefits. He also promised that women will get Rs 36,000 every year and be entitled to free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh and free dialysis in govt hospitals.Accusing Trinamool of seeking reservation on the basis of religion, Modi said, “Muslims are being brought within the ambit of the reservation for Other Backward Classes. This is against the Constitution.”Flagging the issue of infiltration, he said Bengal is on the verge of losing its identity. “Trinamool’s agenda is dangerous. They want to establish a govt of infiltrators, which will protect the religion and language of the infiltrators,” he said.Slamming Trinamool for being an “anti-tribal party” and following the tactic employed by “Nehru to defeat Babasaheb Ambedkar”, the PM said, “BJP nominated the country’s first tribal woman President. Trinamool put up a candidate against her. They played a game to prevent a tribal woman from becoming President.” Modi alleged that Bengal’s tribal districts are lagging behind on Trinamool’s watch and tribal land is being usurped by “TMC’s syndicate”. He said, “BJP, on the other hand, nominated members from the tribal community as CMs of Assam, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. (Bengal’s) Nirmam sarkar (heartless govt) has troubled jangalmahal. Illegal mining is rampant and unemployment has reached its peak,” Modi said.The PM also touched upon the perils faced by potato and rice farmers in the state. “BJP will end the TMC syndicate’s control of cold storages by throwing each of them (syndicate members) out. Exploitation of potato and rice farmers will stop,” Modi said, promising an annual grant of Rs 9,000 for each farmer and implementation of a crop insurance policy in the state.(Written with inputs from Sujoy Khanra in Midnapore)
