Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attended a rally in Barasat which witnessed a sea of women supporters amid Sandeshkhali row. The area has been in the news after a large number of women have alleged that now-suspended TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his "gang" captured swathes of land by force, besides "sexually harassing" them. A fact-finding report was also prepared by the NCW which said that it has gathered disturbing testimonies of women alleging widespread fear and systematic abuse by both police officers and members of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Women of Sandeshkhali joined the rally after several security checkups. A few buses in which women of Sandeshkhali were travelling to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in West Bengal's Barasat were allegedly stopped at multiple places by the police citing "security protocol".
The PM also addressed the women's rally at Barasat, North 24 Parganas district amid Modi-Modi chants. "This huge program is proof of how BJP is making 'Naari Shakti' the power of 'Viksit Bharat'. On 9th January, BJP started the 'Shakti Vandan' campaign across the country. During this, interactions with lakhs of self-help groups were done across the country and today, in West Bengal there is a huge program organised for members of the self-help groups..," PM Modi said.
"Before coming here, I was at a program in Kolkata where I inaugurated many development projects of the Government of India. Today, new routes connected to the Kolkata Metro, Pune Metro, Kochi Metro, Agra Metro and Namo Bharat trains have been expanded together. Before 2014, only 28 kilometres route of the Kolkata Metro was built and in the last 10 years, 31 kilometres route of the Kolkata Metro has been added. Modernizing the country's public transport is a priority of the Govt of India..," he added.
Attacks TMC
"TMC govt can never provide protection to women. Whereas, the BJP govt has decided to award life imprisonment for heinous crimes like rape. For easy registration of women's complaints, we have arranged for a 'Women Helpine', but the TMC govt is not letting it operate in West Bengal. This TMC govt can never work for the welfare of women..."
On 'own family' jibe
PM Modi said, "Seeing NDA forming its govt in the Centre, the INDI Alliance has begun to shake now. They have started hurling abuses at me now. They are asking about my family. They're saying I talk against 'Parivarvad' because I don't have any family. These people want to know about my family. I want these 'Parivarvadis' to witness our gathering and understand that all the people present here are my family..."
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday unveiled multiple metro projects across the country, including India's first underwater metro line in Kolkata. The Rs 4,965-crore Howrah Maidan-Esplanade section of Kolkata Metro's East-West Corridor, which has the first transportation tunnel "under any mighty river in India", was inaugurated by the PM. The stretch also has the deepest metro station in the country -- the Howrah metro station.
