No Tata, no Nano: At Singur rally, PM Narendra Modi avoids land for industry issue; targets ‘Trinamool’s jungle raj’ instead

SINGUR: "Tata", "Nano" or "land for industry" - the key words that BJP was using in the run-up to Narendra Modi's weekend visit to Singur - failed to find even a single mention in the Prime Minister's 37-minute speech on Sunday.

Modi, instead, tried to link the overall return of industry to Bengal with an improvement in the state's law and order as he used the recent Bihar verdict against "maha jungle raj" to exhort his audience to end "Trinamool's 15-year jungle raj" in Bengal.




Singur, lying in a semi-urban belt of Hooghly district about 40 km from Kolkata, was the epicentre of the land-for-agriculture stir that helped Mamata Banerjee end the Left Front's 35-year-old regime in 2011. The Bengal BJP leadership, for the last few days, highlighted that stir - and the consequent flight of the proposed Tata Nano factory to Gujarat - as it tried to build a narrative against the TMC administration "for failing to bring industry back to Bengal".

"Industry and investment will come to Bengal only when there is a proper law-and-order situation. If voted to office, BJP will put an end to syndicate tax and rioters in Bengal," the PM said.

Charting a script for the industrial and agricultural rejuvenation of Bengal, following his inauguration of projects worth Rs 830 crore in the state's port-led development segment, Modi stressed his party would focus on "district-wise capacity building" if voted to office. "The BJP govt will boost the strengths of each district... Specific products of each district will be encouraged through one-district-one-product scheme," he said.

Bengal will follow path shown by Vidyasagar: Modi

A special policy on plastic will be framed and jute packaging will be encouraged immediately after govt formation," the PM said. Hooghly, the hub of Bengal's jute belt, is home to almost 60 jute mills.

Earlier, while laying the foundation stone of infrastructure for port-led development in Bengal, PM Narendra Modi said the state has the potential to emerge as a manufacturing-trade-logistics hub.

He laid the foundation stone of the "extended port gate system" in Hooghly's Balagarh. The project, Modi said, will reduce pressure on Kolkata Port and help Hooghly district become a warehousing and trading hub. "This will attract hundreds of crores of rupees in investment and create job opportunities for thousands of youths. New markets will open for the farmers here," he said.

The PM also flagged the possibility of Hooghly's agricultural products finding a larger export market.

Addressing women, who had turned up in numbers at the Singur rally, Modi said Bengal would follow the path shown by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar by empowering "women and the youth".

"It is essential to put an end to Trinamool's maha jungle raj and usher in BJP's sushasan. For that we have to follow the path shown by Vidyasagar, who had transformed women and the youth as agents of change. Women and the youth will have to strengthen their voice. Women should remember that their children will not get good education or jobs so long TMC is in the govt."

Modi took credit for Durga Puja in Kolkata getting Unesco's intangible cultural heritage status, Santiniketan bagging Unesco's world heritage tag, granting of classical language status to Bengali and installation of Subhas Chandra Bose's statue at India Gate.

"TMC was part of Sonia Gandhi's govt, but they never made any effort for that. It became possible only when BJP formed govt in New Delhi," he said.

Bengal, Modi said, followed in the footsteps of the erstwhile Arvind Kejriwal-led govt in Delhi and prevented the benefits of central schemes from reaching the people.  "People in Bengal are determined to teach TMC a lesson this time. Education system is in the grip of mafia and Hooghly was shamed for education scam. If voted to office, we will ensure they are behind bars," Modi said.

Accusing Trinamool of facilitating infiltration by not providing land for fencing along the border with Bangladesh, Modi said BJP would ensure an end to infiltration. “Even the smallest TMC leader thinks he is the guardian of the state. Your vote for BJP will ensure there is no more Sandeshkhali or theft of jobs,” Modi said.