PM Narendra Modi tears into Trinamool’s ‘mafia raj’, meets Sandeshkhali assault victims

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Kolkata, March 6

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the “Sandeshkhali storm” would sweep West Bengal with ominous consequences for the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Addressing the “Nari Shakti Vandan” rally of the BJP in Barasat near Kolkata, the PM said Bengal’s women were angry with the TMC’s “mafia raj” and the anger would spill beyond Sandeshkhali. “Sandeshkhali jhor uthbe sampurna Bangla te (Sandeshkhali storm will sweep through Bengal),” he said.

Opens country’s first underwater Metro line

• PM inaugurates multiple Metro rail projects in Kolkata, including India’s first underwater facility
• Twin tunnels for up and down trains have been constructed beneath the Hooghly river
• Built at a cost of Rs 5,000 cr, these will connect Howrah Maidan with the Esplanade Metro station

The PM also met a group of women from Sandeshkhali shortly after the rally in Barasat. Modi met five women, who charged suspended TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his followers with sexually harassing them. He described the women, who have been protesting against the alleged atrocities, as “Maa Durga”. Earlier at the rally, Modi said, “TMC leaders committed atrocities on poor Dalit and tribal women of Sandeshkhali, forcing them to hit the streets.” He said the TMC government, “based on appeasement and extortion”, could not protect women.

Modi made the remarks even as the state government was busy fighting the CBI in the Supreme Court over the handing over of the Sandeshkhali case probe to central agency.

“The Trinamool government is not bothered about people’s sentiments. It is making all efforts to protect the accused. After the Calcutta HC, it has suffered a blow in the top court too,” the PM said, referring to the tug-of-war between the state and the CBI over the custody of Shahjahan Sheikh, the main accused in the Sandeshkhali abuse case.