PM's Sheikh Shahjahan Barbs, Trinamool's Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh Counter

Women in West Bengal are outraged and the storm that started in Sandeshkhali will not remain restricted to the island but reach every corner of West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today. Firing barbs at the Mamata Banerjee government over what has emerged as the biggest talking point in Bengal politics, the Prime Minister said the Bengal government is using all its might to save the "oppressor of women" - an apparent reference to Sandeshkhali strongman Sheikh Shahjahan.

Switching to Bengali, the Prime Minister gave the BJP's war cry, "Ei baar, 400 paar, NDA sarkar, 400 paar" at a rally of the BJP's Mahila Morcha in Barasat, in the same district as Sandeshkhali.

Ahead of the Barasat event, the Prime Minister opened several new routes of Kolkata Metro and also took a ride in it while interacting with several schoolgoers.

The Prime Minister said modernising public transport is a priority for his government. Several generations, he said, have grown up looking at Kolkata Metro. "When I first came to Kolkata as a child, seeing the Metro was an attraction. But today, the Kolkata Metro is also a witness to the fast pace at which the BJP government works. In the 40 years before 2014, the Kolkata Metro route expanded to 28 km. But in the past 10 years, 31 km of Metro route have been added. The BJP government has worked very honestly for the development of Bengal and the country," he said.

Leaders of the Opposition's INDIA alliance, of which the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is a part, are scared as the BJP is set to return to power, the Prime Minister said. "They are losing their sleep and their balance, so they have started abusing Modi," he added.

"Leaders of the INDIA alliance are now saying that I talk against dynastic politics because I have no family. They want to know where my family is. These dynasts should come here. This is Modi ka parivar," he said, doubling down on the BJP's campaign to counter RJD patriarch Lalu Yadav's "Modi has no family" jab.

Pointing at the women in the crowd, he said the mothers, sisters and daughters shield him from every difficulty. "For me, the mothers and sisters of Bengal rise like Goddess Durga," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said he left home at a young age and wandered across the country. "I did not have a dime in my pocket. But you would be proud to know that one or the other family would ask me daily if I have eaten. I roamed around with a jhola, but I never spent a day hungry. That's why I say 140 crore people of this country are my family," he said, adding, "I am now trying to repay those favours."

Bengal's women power, he said, has given a direction to the country. "But, in this land, under the Trinamool rule, women have suffered atrocities. Trinamool has committed a grave sin. What happened in Sandeshkhali would make everyone hang their heads in shame. But the Trinamool government doesn't care about your pain. It is using all its might to protect the oppressor of Bengali women, but they have faced jolts in the high court and in the Supreme Court."

The PM's barbs at the Mamata Banerjee government come against the backdrop of the tug of war between Bengal police and the CBI over Sheikh Shahjahan's custody. The Calcutta High Court has asked Bengal police to hand over Shahjahan to the central agency. The Mamata Banerjee government has challenged the ruling in the Supreme Court and refused to hand him over till the court takes a decision. Shahjahan was earlier arrested after being on the run for 52 days. While the Trinamool has expelled him, the BJP says people of Sandeshkhali, who have accused him and his aides of sexual harassment, land grab and extortion, will get no justice till central agency grills him.

The Trinamool government, he said, trusts leaders who commit atrocities, but not the women of the state. "Women from Bengal and the country are outraged. This storm won't remain restricted to Sandeshkhali. It will reach the whole Bengal. Bengal's Nari Shakti has set out to destroy Trinamool's Mafia rule. Sandeshkhali has shown that only BJP is the voice of the women of Bengal. The Trinamool government, under the pressure of appeasement and extortionists, will never help women," he said.

Calling the Mamata Banerjee government "anti-women", he said several welfare schemes launched for women have not been implemented in Bengal.

The Prime Minister also met a group of women from the Sandeshkhali island. "After the public meeting, the Prime Minister met a few women from Sandeshkhali. They narrated their ordeal and the Prime Minister heard them patiently like a father figure. The victims were very emotional," a party source said.

Shortly after the Prime Minister's address, the Trinamool Congress hit back. Leading the charge, party MP Derek O'Brien said the Prime Minister has no right to lecture on women's security as a BJP leader is accused of sexually harassing wrestlers.

"Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lectured on Nari Shakti. Three questions to you, Sir - Why are there 51 cases of crimes against women every hour? Why does BJP have 13 per cent women in Lok Sabha, why only 14 per cent women in 195 candidate list?" Mr O'Brien said in a post on his X handle. "Why no action against BJP MP charged with sexually harassing wrestlers?" he added.

The Trinamool leader was referring to BJP MP and former wrestling boss Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Mr Singh had to step down from the wrestling federation post after top wrestlers accused him of sexually harassing women wrestlers. The BJP MP has trashed the allegations.