Bengal's TMC govt not run from state secretariat, but by party-sheltered criminals: Modi
Arambag (West Bengal) (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday alleged the TMC government in West Bengal is not run from the state secretariat but by criminals sheltered by the party.
Addressing his second rally of the day in the Haripal area of Arambag in the Hooghly district, a day before the poll campaign ends, he said the TMC's "dependence on anti-social elements in ruling the state" often forces the Calcutta High Court or the Supreme Court to intervene and bring it back on track.
"The TMC's 'nirmam (cruel) sarkar' doesn't run from the Nabanna (state secretariat). It is run by goons and criminals, requiring the intervention of the high court and the country's apex court to bring the government back on track," Modi said.
He promised that at its very first Cabinet meeting, a BJP government in the state will give its nod to the implementation of the Centre's flagship health insurance programme, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
West Bengal is the only state that has not yet implemented the Centre's universal healthcare coverage scheme, with the TMC government running its own Swasthya Sathi scheme that provides for secondary and tertiary care up to Rs 5 lakh per family annually.
At the rally, the prime minister referred to the record 93.19 per cent polling in the first phase of Assembly polls in Bengal to claim that the ruling TMC was "rattled" by the voter turnout figure.
Alleging that the credibility of the Mamata Banerjee administration "has fallen to zero", Modi claimed that only the BJP can form a government, which will give justice and security to the people of the state.
"The TMC has perpetrated a culture of fear in Bengal for the past 15 years. People are now back saying 'Bhoy (fear) out, Bharosa (trust) in'," he said and urged people to break the April 23 turnout record in the second phase of polling on April 29.
"People are forced to move courts against the state government and its misdeeds because they have lost faith in it," Modi said, citing the teachers' recruitment scam, deployment of central forces for the 2023 panchayat polls, Sandeshkhali unrest and the RG Kar rape and murder, all of which required judicial interventions.
The prime minister told the rally that he would "remain as guarantor for women applying for loans in banks for their business initiatives", drawing loud cheers from those in attendance.
Speaking not far from the plot where the Tata Motors small car factory project in Singur was abandoned midway, he pointed towards the "steady decline of industries" in the Hooghly district.
"Decades ago, when the country produced only Ambassador cars, its production facility used to be in Hooghly's Uttarpara. Today, when India is producing electric vehicles and exporting them, established plants are shutting operations in Bengal."
The prime minister pledged that the BJP will prioritise developing the Hooghly district as the country's industrial hub, once the BJP comes to power in Bengal.
About the plight of potato farmers of the state, the prime minister claimed that the TMC-run syndicates "buy the produce at Rs 2-3 a kilo to sell it at Rs 25-30 elsewhere, leaving the hapless growers with no options".
"After May 4, when a BJP chief minister takes oath in Bengal, it will signal the end of syndicate raj, cut-money, and commission raj in the state," Modi said.
The prime minister alleged that crimes against women reached an all-time high across the state during the TMC's rule, as he accused the ruling party of "protecting the perpetrators of crimes, who roam freely".
It is important to replace the TMC government since it is evident that this dispensation "cannot offer security" to the state's women, Modi said, adding the BJP would prioritise women's empowerment through a host of schemes offering financial support.
"Bengal needs a government which can do justice to its potential, which can fulfil people's aspirations, and that job can only be done by a dispensation led by the BJP," the PM said.
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Media dinner shooting suspect wrote about targeting of administration officials, Trump says
Washington (AP): The man accused of trying to storm the ballroom at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner with guns and knives had written about targeting Trump administration officials, and his family raised concerns with law enforcement before the event, President Donald Trump said Sunday in an interview on Fox News Channel.
The accused gunman's family had alerted police in Connecticut, Trump said, revealing new details about a chaotic encounter that disrupted one of Washington's glitziest annual events the night before.
The suspect, identified by law enforcement officials as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was expected to face criminal charges on Monday from the Justice Department, whose acting leader, Todd Blanche, said the suspect travelled by train from California and checked in as a guest days earlier at the Washington hotel where the Saturday night gala dinner was held with its typically tight security.
Law enforcement officials who have interviewed Allen's relatives, examined the gunman's electronic devices and his writings preliminarily believe he intended to target administration members in attendance at the dinner.
He attempted to charge into the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being fired, Trump being hurried off the stage and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.
“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC's “Meet the Press.”
The suspect is believed to have purchased the two firearms he carried within the last couple of years, Blanche said. He is not being cooperative and is expected to face multiple charges on Monday.
Video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran toward him. One officer was shot in a bullet-resistant vest but was recovering, officials said. The gunman was taken into custody and was not injured, but was being evaluated at a hospital, police said.
“He failed,” Blanche said on CBS's “Face the Nation.” “Law enforcement did their jobs.”
Authorities believe the suspect fired the shot that hit the Secret Service officer, who is expected to make a full recovery, Blanche said.
“He's going to be great, he's going to be fine, and thank God he was wearing a bulletproof vest,” Blanche said Sunday on ABC's “This Week.”
Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.
A May 2025 profile photo of Allen appears to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker being taken into custody that was posted Saturday night by Trump.
The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him in a cap and gown after graduating with a master's degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Allen earned a bachelor's degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He listed his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled with Nerf guns.
The shooting at the security barricades happened minutes after the event got underway.
The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. Gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realised something was happening. Hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.
“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted offstage. Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.
After an initial attempt to resume the event, it was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.
Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years. He suggested that his personal politics had made him a repeated target, but he also called for unity and bipartisan healing in an increasingly violent world.
“It's always shocking when something like this happens. Happened to me, a little bit. And that never changes,” Trump told reporters in a hastily organised news conference at the White House late Saturday.
