PM Modi addressed a rally in Bengal: “Criminals and corrupt people should be imprisoned, not in power”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a sharp attack on West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress for their objection to the new legislation brought to remove leaders arrested on serious charges holding top offices, saying such ministers should be in jail and not in power. He urged the state’s citizens to elect the BJP in the upcoming elections in order to bring about “poribortan (change).”

“There is no legislative provision to fire a PM, CM, or minister who is imprisoned. And observe the lack of shame displayed by those who operate governments from prisons. A TMC minister is still in jail in the teacher recruitment scam. Yet the minister was not willing to relinquish his post,” PM Modi said in an indirect reference to Bengal Correctional Services Minister, Chandranath Sinha, who is in jail in connection with the school recruitment scam.

Hours after launching a similar barrage at the RJD on a visit to election-bound Bihar, PM Modi launched his most recent attack on Trinamool.

In support of the measure that would prevent persons with criminal records from running for office, Prime Minister Modi declared that “no one can give orders from jail,” slamming parties that he said treat people like a vote bank while disregarding their goals, dignity, and progress.

In order to remove the prime minister, chief ministers, and ministers who have served 30 days in jail on charges carrying a minimum five-year prison sentence, the Center introduced the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2025.

Meanwhile, the ruling party in Bengal contested the PM’s allegations of corruption by showing a purported 2016 Narada sting footage of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari accepting cash on camera.

“He swears while seated in a glass house. He was seated next to Suvendu Adhikari, the person who committed the theft. At a news conference, former Trinamool MP Kunal Ghosh said, “He puts people who insult Bengal on stage, right next to those who steal the stage.”

In Bengal, PM Modi

In a previous massive development effort in the state, PM Modi opened three new Kolkata Metro routes: Noapara – Jai Hind Bimanbandar, Sealdah – Esplanade, and Beleghata.

PM Modi referred to the Mamata Banerjee-led party as a “enemy” of Bengal’s progress during the public meeting in Kolkata, claiming that the party’s sole goal is to impede the BJP’s expansion.

The Prime Minister also criticized the Mamata Banerjee government for the current state of law and order and brought up recent incidents in which women were attacked violently, such as the RG Kar rape and murder case.

“The state has seen a rise in the crimes committed against women. The TMC government has come to be associated with crime and corruption. There won’t be any progress as long as the TMC controls the state. Only when the TMC is taken out of power will there be any real change, he stated.

Additionally, PM Modi restated his denial of the Bengal administration’s persistent allegations of slack state funds from the federal government.

“For road connectivity and railway development, we have given Bengal three times as much funding as the UPA. However, the state’s development projects face a significant obstacle. The majority of the money we provide the state government is stolen from the state. You never even get to see the money. That money gets spent on TMC cadre. That’s why Bengal lags behind in work for the upliftment of the poor,” he contended.