Kolkata, April 5 The TMC on Sunday accused the BJP of being involved in the unrest in West Bengal's Malda district, where several judicial officers involved in scrutinizing unregistered voters were recently surrounded, and charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with spreading false information about women's safety.
The ruling party's comments came after the PM made the Malda incident involving the judicial officers the centerpiece of the BJP's campaign on alleged lawlessness in the state, claiming that it reflected the TMC's "maha jungle raj" (ultimate jungle rule).
He framed the assembly elections as a battle between the "fear" allegedly spread by the ruling TMC and the BJP's "trust".
TMC MP Kirti Azad, in a statement on X, said, "Modi ji should stop lying…we exposed how your B and C teams were involved in the Malda violence. From police observers to AIMIM leaders – you deployed your entire machinery to create unrest here, and now you are lecturing us."
Regarding Modi's allegations about the safety of women in the state, TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghosh said, "We don't need a lecture from a party that is famous for shielding and glorifying rapists."
Senior TMC leader and state education minister Bratya Basu accused the PM of spreading hatred towards the Bengali language.
Rejecting the TMC's allegations, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar said the PM had sent out a clear message that after the election results on May 4, all wrongdoers would face action.
"There will be no politics of intimidation, no more anarchy or lawlessness. This time, West Bengal will see justice, the rule of law, and a secure future," said Majumdar, also the former state BJP president.
Addressing his first election rally in Bengal's Cooch Behar after the poll schedule was announced, Modi used the Malda incident to sharpen the BJP's twin campaign planks of deteriorating law and order and alleged demographic change.
He also invoked the Sandeshkhali incident, infiltration from Bangladesh, corruption, and unemployment to mount a broadside against the Mamata Banerjee government.