Kolkata, April 19 (IANS) Trinamool Congress will have to pay the price in the forthcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal for being part of the conspiracy along with Congress and other opposition parties in blocking the Women’s Reservation (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

“The mothers and sisters of West Bengal will punish the Trinamool Congress for this. We have seen what happened in the Parliament. Trinamool Congress has once again betrayed the sisters of West Bengal. Trinamool Congress does not want women in West Bengal to be MLAs and MPs in large numbers. This is because the women in West Bengal are challenging Trinamool Congress’ misrule in the state,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a campaign rally in Darjeeling district in the morning.

Speaking on the occasion at the rally in this tribal-dominated district, the Prime Minister also launched a scathing attack against Trinamool Congress and the state government for allegedly ignoring the issues and demands of the people from the tribal communities in the state.

“Trinamool Congress has no time to listen to the tribal people. But they have enough time to listen to the illegal infiltrators. Trinamool Congress wants to bypass the Constitutional provision to ensure their dedicated vote bank. Because of such attempts, they had been censured by the High Court several times. But they don’t even listen to the court. Even the court had called for the reservation of women without delay. But the Trinamool Congress does not want that,” the Prime Minister said.

According to him, Trinamool Congress’ attitude towards tribal people was evident from the recent insult of President Droupadi Murmu, during the latter’s visit to West Bengal to attend an International Santal Conference.

“BJP gave the country its first tribal President. We want their empowerment. Even the Trinamool Congress fielded its own candidate against our tribal candidate. Just like Pandit Nehru fielded a candidate to defeat Babasaheb Ambedkar. Similarly, Congress and Trinamool Congress also started playing the game of defeating the tribal presidential candidate. They did not want anyone from the tribal community to become the Indian President,” the Prime Minister said.

He also said that if the BJP comes to power in West Bengal, its priority will be to ensure the safety and empowerment of the women of the state.

“Women in West Bengal are totally deprived now of many things. What they get in BJP-ruled states, they do not get here. What women get in Assam, Odisha, and Gujarat, they do not get that here. If the BJP comes to power here, poor sisters will be provided free ration. No one will be able to snatch it away. The BJP will help up to Rs 1.5 lakh under the PM Awas Yojana to build concrete houses. The Ayushman Bharat scheme is not allowed here. If the BJP comes to power, it will pay up to Rs 5 lakh for treatment. If a woman has kidney disease, dialysis will be done free of cost in government hospitals,” the Prime Minister said.

He said, “West Bengal is rejecting TMC’s cut-money culture and deep-rooted corruption. People are now placing their trust in the BJP for honest governance and development.”

–IANS

src/dpb