Gandhinagar, May 17 (IANS) Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Sunday referred to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s electoral performance in West Bengal and said the party received a strong mandate after “an extensive campaign carried out under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

Addressing a gathering in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar during a programme related to development works worth Rs 620 crore, Union Minister Shah spoke about election campaigns in different states and said he had recently travelled extensively for the recent Assembly elections in five states.

“I recently returned after intensive campaigning for three months in five-state elections,” the Union Minister said.

Referring specifically to West Bengal, Union Minister Shah added, “In Bengal, there was tremendous public response.”

He said that public meetings addressed by Prime Minister Modi in West Bengal during the poll campaign drew large crowds despite high temperatures.

“In 42-degree heat, if you had seen PM Modi’s rallies, it looked like a Kumbh Mela. Everywhere we went, chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ echoed,” he added.

He said that many people had questioned whether the BJP would secure a strong poll result in the state, but he had remained confident about the party’s prospects.

“The people gave us 207 seats and entrusted BJP with a huge responsibility,” Union Minister Shah added.

While discussing Bengal, Union Minister Shah also criticised the state’s earlier governance and compared development conditions there with those in Gujarat.

He said that development had not progressed adequately in Bengal over several decades and alleged that people faced political interference in routine economic activities.

“The BJP’s expansion in eastern India reflected growing public support for the party’s governance model. The party’s organisational strength depended heavily on grassroots workers,” he added.

The Union Minister was speaking after inaugurating and laying foundation stones for a range of development projects in Gandhinagar, including health centres, water supply infrastructure, community halls, roads, gardens, sports facilities and sewage treatment systems.

“The projects formed part of a broader effort to improve infrastructure and civic amenities in both newly developed and existing areas of the city,” he said.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said that during the programme that “the Gujarat government was committed to developing cities with green infrastructure, modern civic amenities and sustainable planning”.

He added that Gandhinagar was being developed with a long-term vision focused on environmental sustainability and quality urban infrastructure.

“The Gandhinagar Parliamentary constituency was being planned as one of the greenest constituencies in the country, with a target of planting five lakh trees during the year,” he said.

The event was attended by several public representatives and senior officials, including State Urban Development Minister Darshana Vaghela, Mayor Miraben Patel and MLAs Alpesh Thakor and Rita Patel.

–IANS

mys/khz