"I say remove corruption, they say save corrupt leaders": PM Modi targets Opposition parties

Cooch Behar (West Bengal) [India], April 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed the Congress and the Trinamool Congress saying that while he calls for the removal of corruption, the Opposition parties such as Congress and Trinamool Congress call for the saving "corrupt leaders".
Addressing a public rally in Cooch Behar, Prime Minister Modi said, "Here TMC, Leftists and Congress might look like they're fighting each other, but behind the curtains, they are all partners in Delhi. They want to save those involved in ration scams, and teacher recruitment scams. Bundles of notes were recovered from the houses of TMC leaders. They want to save these leaders."
"No one has the right to loot your money. They disrupt the work of investigative agencies. I say remove corruption, they say save the corrupt leaders," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, saying it tried its best to protect the accused in the Sandeshkhali incidents that rocked the state and asserted that only the Bharatiya Janata Party can stop atrocities against women.
Prime Minister Modi said the BJP has resolved to ensure punishment to the accused for the Sandeshkhali incidents.
He also accused the Trinamool Congress government of not allowing the implementation of central schemes in West Bengal.
"It is the BJP only which can stop atrocities against women here. The whole country has seen how the TMC govt tried its best to protect the accused in Sandeshkhali. BJP has resolved to ensure punishment for the accused in the Sandeshkhali incident. They will have to spend their lives in jail," PM Modi said.
BJP has been attacking the Trinamool Congress over incidents in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Local women accused the suspended TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides of excesses, land-grab and sexual assault.
Shahjahan Sheikh has been remanded to Enforcement Directorate custody till April 13 in the case in which officials of the agency were attacked while they had gone to search his residence in the probe into the money trail in an alleged ration distribution scam.
Prime Minister also targeted Congress and said that for decades it kept giving the 'Garibi Hatao' slogan but it is the BJP that has worked hard to bring people out of poverty.
"Modi has to take care of fulfilling the dreams of 140 crore Indians. This is Modi's guarantee. Your dream is Modi's resolve. For decades Congress kept giving the slogan of 'Garibi Hatao'. It is the BJP government which in the last 10 years alleviated 25 crore people from poverty. This happened because we are working sincerely and our intentions are right," he said.
This is the first rally of PM Modi in West Bengal after the Election Commission of India announced the poll schedule of the general elections on March 16.
A large number of people gathered on the roads of Cooch Behar to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Cooch Behar in north Bengal along with Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri will go to the polls on April 19 in the first of the seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls.
There are 42 parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) secured 22 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 18 and Congress won two seats.
Prime Minister also addressed a public rally in Bihar's Jamui.
Hailing the governance of the BJP-led NDA at the Centre over the last 10 years under his leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said all that happened over the decade gone by was just a 'trailer' as a lot more would follow if he is elected for a third, straight term in office.
Addressing a campaign rally in Jamui on Thursday, PM Modi said, "Echoes in favour of the BJP and the NDA are not only renting the air across Bihar but also sounding in the far corners of the country. What happened in the last 10 years is just a trailer, as there's plenty more still to be done. We all have to come together to take the country forward."
Ripping into the Opposition bloc INDIA, he said when the partners in the 'Ghamandia' alliance were in power at the Centre, "the trains that plied on our tracks were rickety at best. Now, the people of Bihar are travelling in the Vande Bharat".
"Those who gobbled up land in the name of giving jobs to the poor in the Railways can never do any good for the people of Bihar," PM Modi said, in an attack on the Opposition bloc.
He said India was considered 'weak' in the eyes of the world during the Opposition rule at the Centre but now, the country is a global leader.
"Congress and RJD tarnished the country's image before the world during their rule. The BJP and NDA are working towards one goal, which is to build a 'Viksit Bharat' (a developed India) and a prosperous Bihar. You all are, perhaps, aware of what the world used to think of us in the previous years. During the rule of Congress, India was considered a weak and poor country. Today, we are showing the way to the world...the whole world is watching us. How did our global profile and prestige rise by leaps and bounds? Today, we are the fifth-largest global economy," he said.
Referring to late NDA partner and the chief of the undivided Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Ram Vilas Paswan, PM Modi said he was satisfied that his son Chirag Paswan is carrying forward his ideas and vision with full sincerity and devotion.
"We are all feeling his loss today. This is the first election where Bihar's proud son and Padma Bhushan recipient Ram Vilas Paswan ji is not among us. However, I am happy that my younger brother Chirag Paswan is carrying forward the ideas and vision of his father with absolute seriousness and devotion," he said.
He added that both Congress and RJD hurt Bihar's pride and insulted the state's luminaries, including former CM and Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur. "Both the Congress and RJD insulted Bihar and Bihari pride at every opportunity. They insulted Karpoori Thakur. Just some time ago, our government conferred the country's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on Karpoori Thakur (posthumously). Even then, they scoffed at our decision. It was under our government that the 500-year dream of a Ram Mandir was fulfilled. The Congress and the RJD had used all their might to stop the Ram Mandir from becoming a reality. Even today, these people don't tire of hurling insults at Ram Bhakts and the Ram Mandir," PM Modi said.