Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an all-out attack on the West Bengal government over the law and order situation in the state, referring to the mob siege of judicial officers in Malda to accuse the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of failing to uphold constitutional governance.
Addressing a rally in Cooch Behar, Modi hit out at the Mamata Banerjee-led government for using the term “ishtehar” for its manifesto, accused it of sheltering infiltrators, and criticised what he described as its “appeasement politics”, which he said was threatening the state’s identity.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the incident, and West Bengal Police has arrested Mofakkerul Islam, who had contested the 2021 assembly polls from Itahar on an All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) ticket, and named him as a key conspirator.
Modi also drew on a historical episode to target the TMC, criticising its use of the word “ishtehar” (Urdu for advertisement) for its poll manifesto, linking it to the “Lal Ishtehar” circulated after Bengal’s partition in 1905, which he said was followed by attacks on Hindus.
The Prime Minister also alleged that the demographic profile of West Bengal had changed significantly during the TMC’s tenure due to illegal immigration, and accused the state government of opposing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
