New Delhi: As the BJP swept the assembly elections in West Bengal for the first time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the state has been finally freed from fear and that it is a time for change, not revenge, as he appealed to all parties to shun the culture of political violence and focus on the future of the state.
Addressing the jubilant party workers at the BJP headquarters after the win in Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry, Modi said the Congress, TMC and others have been punished severely for opposing the recent women’s reservation bill.
He asserted that the Samajwadi Party will also face the wrath of women very soon, in an apparent reference to the 2027 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
In his nearly 50-minute speech, the Prime Minister said the elections in West Bengal have been special this year, as earlier they were marred by violence, fear and the death of innocent people.
But this time the news was different as peaceful voting took place in West Bengal and for the first time, no one lost their life during voting, he said.
“As Bengal enters a new phase of change, I also want to make an earnest appeal to every political party in Bengal. Over the past decades in Bengal, countless lives have been ruined due to political violence. I firmly believe that this election culture of Bengal must change from today onwards.
“Aaj jab BJP jeeti hai, toh badla nahi, badlav ki baat honi chahiye; bhay nahi, ‘bhavishya’ ki baat honi chahiye (Today, when the BJP has won, the talk should not be of revenge, but of change; not of fear, but of the future),” he said and urged the parties to end the vicious circle of violence.
Modi said it was a special day in many ways as it heralds a bright future for the country.
“It is a day of trust in the great democracy of India, trust in the politics of performance, trust in the resolve of stability, trust in the spirit of Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat.
“I bow before the people of West Bengal, Assam, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Keralam,” he said at the victory celebration event where BJP president Nitin Nabin, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, among others, were present.
Modi said on November 14 last year, when the Bihar election results came in, he told the BJP workers from this very spot that the Ganga flows onward from Bihar all the way to Ganga Sagar (in West Bengal).
“And today, with victory in West Bengal, from Gangotri (Uttarakhand) to Ganga Sagar (West Bengal), it is nothing but the lotus in full bloom.
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal today, in these states surrounding Mother Ganga, there are BJP-NDA governments,” he said.
End of Mamata’s game: Sawant
Panaji: The state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party led by its president Damodar Naik celebrated the party’s victory at the Assembly elections in West Bengal by sharing Jhalmuri (Bhelpuri) – a famous snack from Kolkata – with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, cabinet ministers and party MLAs at the city BJP headquarters.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the BJP will secure a fourth consecutive victory in Goa at the 2027 Assembly elections and aims to win 30 seats.
“The excitement of party workers ensures our victory,” he said.
Stating that the ‘Bengal verdict’ marks the end of Mamta Banerjee’s ‘Khela’, Sawant said, “In West Bengal the game of Mamata didi is over and the good governance of lotus has started.”
Maintaining that his party’s rise in West Bengal reflects the people’s mandate, he added that the BJP has worked to keep West Bengal connected to the nation, recalling the role of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and stating that now Prime Minister Narendra Modi has carried the same forward.
Giving Modi the credit for the victory, Sawant further said that in 2029 the NDA will form the government under Modi’s leadership, and expressed confidence that the BJP will win in Goa, to continue its consecutive fourth tenure in power.
There is a Goa connect to the BJP victory in West Bengal. Former state BJP general secretary (organisation) Satish Dhond was joint secretary (organisation) in West Bengal and played a key role in many assembly constituencies. He was posted there in 2022 after Goa Assembly elections.
