Rajnath Singh (ANI image)

Karandighi (WB): Hitting the campaign trail in West Bengal, defence minister Rajnath Singh Wednesday slammed CM Mamata Banerjee for deindustrialisation of the state, alleged a reign of fear and appeasement on her watch and projected the polls as a fight for land and existence by the local population against infiltrators.“You want fear or security, corruption or development, intimidation or democracy,” he asked an enthusiastic crowd at Kumarganj in South Dinajpur and then said, “…time has come for you to vote for BJP for justice and development.”His assertion that a BJP govt will identify and expel infiltrators and reference to “bulldozer action” against criminals drew loud cheers from the crowd at another meeting in North Dinajpur. While Mamata accuses BJP of being outsiders, she considers infiltrators as her own, he said, citing the efforts of the Modi govt to bestow high honours on Bengali icons like Subhas Chandra Bose and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and the party’s association with Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee to emphasise its connection with the state.In Dakshin Dinajpur, he expressed confidence of BJP coming to office in the state but cautioned voters that if they miss the chance to vote out the “corrupt” and “lawless” TMC govt, then Mamata will take West Bengal back to the stone age. TMC now stands for “total misrule and corruption”, he said.He charged the TMC govt with appeasement of Muslims, raising the issue of its inclusion of 75 Muslim castes among 77 communities included in the OBC category and its emphasis on infra development done in minority-dominated areas. While decrying development guided by caste and religious priorities, he assured Muslims, who are nearly half of the population in North Dinajpur, that a BJP govt will be guided by justice and humanity. It will appease no one, he added. TMC has presided over a “corrupt” system where victims of crimes find it hard to receive justice. “A reign of fear and insecurity prevails under TMC and the state has been put on a ventilator,” he said, contrasting this with the country’s overall economic growth under Modi.