Responding to Trinamool’s allegation that the BJP had attacked the Bengali language, Modi said: “The BJP government is proudly working to strengthen the Bengali language and Bengali culture. We are the ones who have given the Bengali language the status of a classical language.”Calling on voters to oust the TMC government, he said: “First, Bengal has seen the rule of Congress, then the Left. Fifteen years ago, you decided to change by believing in the Maa Mati Manush. But that made the situation worse than before. ‘Crime’ and ‘corruption’ are the hallmarks of the TMC government. It is certain that as long as there is a Trinamool government in Bengal, development in Bengal will remain stagnant. Only when Trinamool goes, real change will come.”“Form a BJP government in Bengal. We will make the Bengal of Shama Prasad Mookerjee’s dream. Developed Bengal, Modi’s guarantee. BJP has a roadmap for the development of Bengal. But Trinamool does not. Trinamool is the enemy of development… We need to bring back the past glory of Bengal. So, we have to say together, remove Trinamool. Save Bengal,” he said.Earlier in the day, Modi laid the foundation stone and inaugurated projects worth over Rs 5,200 crore at a programme in Dum Dum. These included the Sealdah–Esplanade Metro Section, Beleghata–Hemanta Mukhopadhyay Section and Noapara–Jai Hind (Biman Bandar) Section, and the foundation stone for the six-lane elevated Kona Expressway.Sharing his experience of a Kolkata Metro journey from Noapara to Jai Hind Airport, he said colleagues expressed happiness over the modernisation of Kolkata’s transport system.“Cities like Kolkata are a rich embodiment of both India’s history and its future. As India moves towards becoming the world’s third-largest economy, cities such as Dum Dum and Kolkata will play a pivotal role,” he said.He noted that India now has the world’s third-largest metro network, growing from 250 km in 2014 to more than 1,000 km today, with Kolkata seeing steady expansion. He said about 14 km of new lines and seven stations are being added to the city’s network, which would improve ease of living and travel.The Sealdah–Esplanade Metro Section is part of the East-West Metro Corridor, built with a 64,833 million yen loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
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