TMC Fires Back at PM Modi’s Bengal Speech with 7-Point Reality Check
New Delhi: India still has the highest number of poor people in the world, with four out of five Indians earning less than Rs 171 a day, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha Leader Derek O’Brien on Thursday said while sharing a “fact check” on the allegations made in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at a poll rally.
As for X, the TMC leader hit back at Modi in his speech at Haldia in West Bengal and released what he called a detailed “fact check” of seven allegations made by the prime minister.
“Let’s expose his 7 claims and do a 7-point reality check,” he said, adding that such rebuttals are easy to compile after every Modi speech in Parliament or public rallies.
Responding to Modi’s claim that India was advancing rapidly while the TMC held back West Bengal, O’Brien highlighted the state’s economic growth, claiming that poverty was widespread in the country.
He said West Bengal’s gross domestic product has increased fivefold in the last 15 years and its exports have increased.
On the Chief Minister’s allegation that factories are shutting down and workers are migrating out of the state, the TMC leader said the number of registered companies in West Bengal has increased significantly since 2011, indicating industrial expansion.
The total number of registered companies in Bengal has increased from 1.37 lakh in 2011 to 2.50 lakh in 2025, an increase of 83 per cent, with an average of more than 7,500 companies being registered every year, O’Brien said.
Countering Modi’s statement that BJP-ruled states are improving, Modi pointed out that 21 crore Indians are still living in ‘Multidimensional Poverty’ according to Niti Aayog.
“The Union government has unilaterally withheld funds worth Rs 2 lakh crore owed to West Bengal,” he said.
Addressing the allegation that TMC “betrayed” the youth, O’Brien said unemployment has decreased and employment opportunities have increased in West Bengal.
“One in three youth in the country is not in employment, education or training. Seven out of every 10 graduates are unemployed. In Bengal, the unemployment rate has decreased by 40 per cent, creating employment opportunities of more than two crore,” he said.
O’Brien questioned the Centre’s commitment to filling the posts in a transparent manner, alleging that there were large-scale vacancies in various government departments of the Union.
Countering Modi’s remarks on crimes against women in the state, the TMC leader cited the official rankings that placed Kolkata among the safest cities, while also citing incidents in BJP-ruled states to cast blame on the ruling party’s record.
“Kolkata has been ranked the safest city for four consecutive years according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The BJP did not take any action against a BJP MP who sexually assaulted champion women wrestlers. He released the rapists of Bilkis Bano. Horrific incidents in Hathras in the BJP’s Unnao ruled Uttar Pradesh,” he said in his post.
Addressing a rally in the port city of Haldia in Purba Medinipur on Friday, Modi announced six guarantees for West Bengal if the BJP wins the Assembly elections.
He demanded the dismissal of the “Nirmam” (tyrannical) TMC government, accusing it of “setting new parameters of the development fiasco and withdrawing the state”.
Modi said he would save the state from the current “reign of fear” and create an all-pervading atmosphere of “confidence”.
