Howrah used to be industrial hub but now factories have been shut down: PM Modi

"TMC has made scams its full-time business. Be it the Left, Congress or any other party of the INDI Alliance, corruption is their common character. Most of the parties in the INDI Alliance do scams secretly, but TMC runs an open industry of scams," the Prime Minister said while addressing a public meeting in Howrah.

Hitting out at the state government in West Bengal, PM Modi said that the TMC is staunchly anti-women and anti-SC/ST adding that they will resort to any means within their control to appease their vote bank.

"To appease their vote bank, they are willing to resort to any means within their control. TMC is staunchly anti-women and anti-SC/ST. Congress divided the land based on religion, yet they opposed granting citizenship to the Matua community through the CAA," he said.

The Prime Minister further noted that during the Congress government at the Centre, the SC community used to get a budget of Rs 40 thousand crore annually but now the BJP-led central government gives a budget of more than Rs 1 lakh 40 thousand crore for the welfare of the SC community.

"The TMC government is irritated by the development of the SC community, hence it is not allowing you to progress, whereas the BJP government gives priority to the interests of the SC community. When there was a Congress government at the centre, SC used to get a budget of only Rs 40 thousand crore annually for the welfare of the society. Today, the BJP government gives a budget of more than Rs 1 lakh 40 thousand crore for the welfare of the SC community," he said.

"There were times when the parties used to solicit your votes, and changed their tone once the government was established. The leader would question you for your identity whenever you approached them. But Modi has altered this way of thinking, Modi has changed this approach. Today, the Modi government is reaching at doorsteps of every citizen," PM Modi added.

He accused the TMC and Left of destroying Bengal saying that earlier Howrah used to be an industrial hub but now everything has been shut down.

"Our Howrah is a witness to how Congress, Left and TMC destroyed Bengal. When Howrah used to be an industrial hub, the mills here, the factories here. There was nothing here. But first, the Left and then the TMC shut down all the industries," he said.

"Howrah used to be an industrial hub earlier. But first the Left, and then TMC, brought all the industries to a halt. The readymade garment sector here is especially in a struggling phase," PM Modi added. (ANI)