Oops! In attack against Opposition, did PM Modi say wrong number of Bengal BJP lawmakers? Here’s the truth

It was a dig at Mamata Banerjee. But it seems in his attack against the Opposition's United India Rally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted the old tally of Bengal BJP lawmakers. Addressing a rally in Silvassa, the capital of Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, PM Modi said that, "there is just one BJP MLA in Bengal and the entire Opposition has gathered there and shouting 'bachao, bachao.' Just one MLA has destroyed their peace and they are all frightened because of that."

News Nation did a simple check and found out that the '1 MLA' claim is inaccurate. According to the results of the West Bengal Assembly Elections that were conducted in 2016, the BJP has three MLAs in the state. Among the winners are BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, who contested from Kharagpur Sadar in West Medinipur. The three seats that the BJP won in 2016 state polls were Madarihat (Alipurduar district), Baishnabnagar (Malda district) and Kharagpur Sadar (West Medinipur district).

The BJP also tweeted out the video in which the Prime Minister is heard talking about the '1 BJP MLA.' Meanwhile, attacking PM Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that, "Modi government's expiry date is over." Addressing the mega rally in Kolkata, Banerjee raised slogan of "badal do, badal do, Delhi ka sarkar badal do."

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पश्चिम बंगाल में भाजपा का सिर्फ एक MLA है लेकिन वहां भाजपा से बचने के लिए पूरे हिंदुस्तान से विपक्ष के सारे लोग इकट्ठे होकर बचाओ बचाओ के नारे लगा रहें हैं।

एक अकेले MLA ने गलत काम करने वालों की नींद हराम करके रखी है, डर के मारे सब इकट्ठे हो रहे है: पीएम @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/FvVAi4vlEd

— BJP (@BJP4India) January 19, 2019

More than 20 national leaders, including former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, his son and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah, Sharad Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Hemant Soren and former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang, reached Kolkata on Friday to take part in the rally.

Large-scale preparations were made to ensure that the rally turns out to be massive success. Besides the huge stages, 20 watchtowers were erected and 1,000 microphones and 30 LED screens put up so that the spectators could see the leaders and hear them speak clearly. As many as 10,000 security personnel were deployed in and around the venue of the rally and around 400 police pickets were set up to ensure foolproof security, the police said. Vehicular movement around the venue was also restricted, the police said.

HIGHLIGHTS

• According to 2016 Assembly poll results, BJP has 3 MLAs in West Bengal. 
• The seats that BJP won were Madarihat, Baishnabnagar and Kharagpur Sadar.
• The BJP also tweeted the video in which the PM is talking about the '1 BJP MLA.'