NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the “wave of change” in West Bengal has become visible after the first phase of polling and claimed that growing public support for the BJP is effectively signalling its victory in the Assembly elections.Addressing a rally at Panihati under the Dum Dum Lok Sabha constituency, with the mother of RG Kar case victim who’s also the candidate fielded from the ASsembly constituency, the Prime Minister said, “This revolution will come through your single vote,” urging voters to back what he described as a mandate for political change.PM Modi alleged that the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) had “crushed the temple of democracy” in the state, but claimed voters had begun to “reconstruct” it through their participation. “The wave of change that had been visible in Bengal for a long time — yesterday’s first phase of voting has put its seal on it. The support shown yesterday in favour of the BJP has sounded the conch shell of its victory,” he said.Referring to the high turnout in the first phase of polling, which saw nearly 92 per cent of electors voting, PM Modi said the mandate reflected a clear shift in public sentiment. “In Bengal, where the TMC had crushed the temple of democracy with its dictatorship, people have started reconstructing the temple of democracy. Now, in the second phase, you have to unfurl the victory flag over this temple,” he said.Escalating his attack on the ruling party, Modi alleged that the TMC was “extremely rattled” after the first phase of polling and had mobilised its “goons” overnight. He further warned that after the results are declared on May 4, “TMC’s goons will have no place to hide.”“The first phase of polling has marked the end of the TMC’s ‘maha jungle raj’,” he said.The Prime Minister also targeted the TMC over women’s safety, calling it an “anti-women party” and contrasting it with what he described as the BJP’s “women-led development model.” “When the women of Bengal ask for justice, the TMC tells them not to step out of their homes,” he alleged.He said the party had fielded women candidates who had faced injustice. Apart from RG Kar victim’s mother, the Prime Minister also mentioned a candidate from Sandeshkhali, describing them as examples of the party giving representation to those who had faced injustice.
