‘Give Me 5 Years To Develop West Bengal’: How Modi’s Pitch Echoes Youngsters’ Mann Ki Baat | Exclusive

At a sleepy café, Kasahara, in Shantiniketan, a bunch of young students share their mixed feelings. Proud of being Bengalis, many moan the fact that they may be forced to leave their state for job opportunities. “We see many from our age group working at Google, Amazon and other MNCs. We wish we had the chance,” they say.

Not that West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee is unaware of this. In fact, she has been pushing for investor summits, inviting and getting bids for investment. But is Bengal an ideal business investment attraction?

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In an exclusive interaction with News18, PM Narendra Modi listed his dream for development of Bengal saying: “Bengal has given leadership to the country. The state used to drive the nation’s economy. It had the heritage and the talent. But investors ran away as first the Communists scared them away. Now, the TMC is following the same path. They are turning investors away. Uttar Pradesh is getting investment because their law and order and bureaucracy are good. The government has to change the attitude here in Bengal. Give me five years and I will change Bengal.”

In fact, the PM and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have linked the “lack of development in Bengal despite investment summits” and Banerjee’s promise of bringing big business ventures, including foreign investment, to the law and order issue and corruption. PM told News18: “That’s why I stress on women safety. If the women are safe and law and order is good, people will invest in Bengal.”

The BJP has linked it to the Sandeshkhali issue, where TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh is facing allegations of land grab and sexual assault of women. The party says with the state and TMC shielding people like Sheikh, allowing them to go scot-free, women, who are more than 50% voters, feel intimidated. “In such a scenario, how can Bengal develop,” they ask.

The BJP is counting on the fact that the voting pattern in the state and Lok Sabha polls is different. While the TMC may have swept the assembly polls, in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP, under the PM and his development pitch, could spring a surprise with a good performance like 2019.

Behind the ‘Bangla Moner Modi‘ (Modi in the mind of Bengal) slogan is the pitch for development.