Claiming that West Bengal is ready for a change, Union Home Minister Amit Shah fervently made an appeal to the people of the state to vote for the BJP to ensure the transformation.

Addressing a huge rally in historic Esplanade here, Shah predicted that the BJP would form government in West Bengal with two-third majority in 2026 assembly polls.

Launching a blistering attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said her government had destroyed West Bengal. The leaders who once led the nation in literature, science, art, and independence struggle are now lagging behind on many fronts.

Lauding the turnout at the rally, he urged the voters to “give so many seats to BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha polls that Modi ji should credit Bengal for becoming PM”.

Setting the tone for the party’s Lok Sabha campaign in the state, the BJP leader claimed that violence during elections is most prominent in Bengal.

He alleged that the ruling party was collecting voter and Aadhar card details raising privacy concerns among the people of the state. The Mamata Banerjee’s Government cannot prevent infiltration.

Shah further said, “Two crore 30 lakh voters in Bengal have chosen the BJP. Yet our leader Suvendu Adhikari has been dismissed from the assembly twice by Didi. I ask Didi to lend her ear, you may have ousted Suvendu from the assembly, but you cannot silence the people of Bengal. They are saying your time is up.”

Acknowledging the sanctity of the land of Bengal, Shah paid homage to the great personalities of the region, including Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, and Ashutosh Mukherjee.

Listing the achievements of the BJP government at the Centre, Shah lamented that West Bengal has been left behind in the development due to Mamata Banerjee.

“Modi ji has ended terrorism from the entire country. He abolished Article 370 for which Bengal’s son Shyamaprasad Mukherjee had sacrificed his life. He ended Left extremism. India’s tricolour was sent to the moon through Chandrayaan 3. A new Parliament was built and the country’s economy was taken from 11th to 5^th position… But West Bengal has been left behind because of didi’s (Mamata Banerjee) politics of appeasement,” he regretted.