KOLKATA: Bengal industries minister Shashi Panja mocked PM Modi for skipping any project announcement for Singur at a rally on Sunday, saying it left state BJP functionaries “disappointed and frustrated”. “We hoped the PM would announce projects for Singur. There was none,” she said, accusing Modi of speaking “on multiple topics” while avoiding specifics.TMC also pushed back against BJP’s pre-rally claim of an industry exodus from Bengal and attempts to revive Singur as a symbol. In a post on X, the party said state approved a Rs 500-crore warehouse project on 11.35 acre in Singur, aimed at boosting e-commerce logistics and generating employment.Party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee took aim at Modi’s call for “real change” in Bengal, saying: “Outsiders from Delhi, landlords of Gujarat will change, we will not change.” At a roadshow in Nadia’s Chapra, he accused Centre of punishing Bengal by suspending funds for welfare schemes. “Bengal will not change by bowing its head,” Banerjee said.TMC accused BJP of trying to “appropriate” Durga Puja and Bengali culture. MP Partha Bhowmik recalled BJP’s past legal challenge to state grants for Durga Puja committees, crediting CM Mamata Banerjee with taking the festival to the global stage.
