Rahul blames Mamata for giving ‘communal’ BJP a foothold in Bengal, calls both ‘corrupt’

“Had the Trinamool not perpetrated violence and delivered good governance, the BJP would not have been able to set foot here,” he said, and claimed that 84 lakh youths in Bengal have applied for the unemployment allowance promised by the Mamata Banerjee government.

“Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee promised jobs to five lakh people. But 84 lakh youths have applied for unemployment allowance,” he said.

Accusing the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of promoting “hate-filled thinking” and attempting to undermine the Constitution, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha alleged that the BJP was involved in vote theft.

“The people of Bengal are stuck between the hatred-spreading BJP and anti-people TMC,” he said as he projected the Congress as the only option for the welfare of the masses.

Remembering deceased Congress leader and former Union minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, who used to win from Raiganj, Gandhi said that he was certain of Dasmunsi becoming “the chief minister of Congress-ruled Bengal” had he been alive.

Gandhi, who also addressed rallies in Malda and Murshidabad districts, termed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls “unconstitutional” and alleged that wherever the BJP and RSS get a chance, they make insinuations against the Constitution.

Gandhi claimed that once the Congress forms a government, the names of those wrongly struck off the electoral rolls under SIR will be reinstated.

Claiming the Trinamool Congress cannot take on the BJP across the country, he said the Congress is the only party that can stand up against the BJP and defeat it.

“Our fight in the country is against the RSS and the BJP’s hate-mongering ideology,” he said.

“The BJP knows that some day Congress workers will defeat them and then action will be taken against Narendra Modi and Amit Shah,” he said.

The Congress leader also invoked the Epstein files, saying, “Names of Indian ministers, BJP leaders, and Narendra Modi are also trapped in them”.

Gandhi also hit out at industrialist Gautam Adani, alleging close ties between the billionaire and the BJP. “Adani gives money, including support, to the BJP. It’s not Adani, it should be called the Modani company. It’s half Adani’s, half Modi’s,” alleged the Congress leader.

Taking a jibe at PM Modi over India and the US agreeing on a trade deal, the former Congress chief said, “It will lead to closure of small and mid-size industries, and cause job loss in India.”

“PM Modi’s control is in the hands of Trump… The India-US trade deal will harm the people of the country, including West Bengal, the workers, farmers, and small traders,” he said, alleging that PM Modi opened up the country’s agriculture sector to the USA, allowing it to sell its farm produce in India.

“India’s agricultural sector will be devastated. Modi sold off India in the trade deal with the US. He is not ‘desh bhakt’ (patriot), he is ‘deshdrohi’ (traitor),” Gandhi alleged.

He also accused the Modi government of handing over India’s energy security to the US by “succumbing to Washington’s pressure”.

Stating that data security is of paramount importance as a country’s strength is built on it, Gandhi accused the Modi government of giving up India’s data to the USA. “National security has been harmed by this,” he said.

Alleging that crimes against women and political violence were on the rise in the state, Gandhi said, “A total dictatorship is going on in Bengal.”

Referring to the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder case, he criticised the TMC government, alleging inaction and questioning its handling of law and order. “Trinamool goons have enough role in what has happened in RG Kar (Hospital). And the government has not taken any responsibility in this regard,” he added.

At the Samserganj rally in Murshidabad district, which had seen extensive violence during the 2025 anti-Waqf protests in the state, Gandhi said the country was witnessing a battle between two ideologies — one that of unity, love, and brotherhood of the Congress, and the other of”hatred and violence propagated by the BJP and the RSS”.

Exhorting the people of Bengal to vote for the Congress, he reiterated the party’s promises in its manifesto, including providing Rs 10 lakh health insurance for every citizen, Rs 15,000 to each farmer, 200 units of free electricity for agricultural purposes, and Rs 2,000 to every woman.

Rahul Gandhi is campaigning for the Congress after a gap of five years. He last campaigned in the state in the 2021 Assembly polls.- With PTI

BJP hits back: ‘Rahul’s remarks against PM truly shameful’

New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday described Rahul Gandhi’s remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “truly shameful”, and said the Congress leader and his party do not seem to be refraining from pursuing the “politics of allegations” until they have scored a century of poll defeats.

“The people of the country have already rejected Rahul Gandhi’s divisive politics in 95 elections so far,” BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj told reporters here.

“The kind of language used by the Leader of Opposition was truly shameful… Narendra Modi is not compromised but committed. That is why Rahul Gandhi is confused,” she said.

“I would like to remind Rahul Gandhi that the country’s electorate has repeatedly delivered a mandate solely and exclusively in recognition of Modiji’s tireless efforts and developmental policies, thereby demonstrating their profound faith in the Modi government,” the BJP MP said. PTI