Suvendu Adhikari said West Bengal should replicate at least 50 per cent of Gujarat’s development model in five years.
He blamed decades of Left Front and TMC rule for the state’s dependence, calling for self-reliance.
He cited BJP wins in Rejinagar and Nandigram bypolls as support for its development agenda.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has said his government will seek to make the state self-reliant and bring it closer to Gujarat’s development model over the next five years, setting a target of achieving at least half that transformation within the period.
Speaking at an exhibition organised as part of the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan at the Indian Museum in Kolkata on Friday, October 9, Adhikari described West Bengal as a “dependent” state after nearly five decades of rule by the Left Front and the Trinamool Congress (TMC). He said his government would work towards self-reliance under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Let us endeavour to make West Bengal like Gujarat in the next five years. If not fully, at least 50 per cent of that should be achieved,” Adhikari said, referring to Gujarat as a state that appeared like “a well-drawn picture and a fairy-tale state”. He made the remarks after a recent visit to Gujarat, where he also attended a programme in Vadnagar, Modi’s birthplace.
The chief minister linked the proposed transformation to the BJP government’s development agenda and Modi’s leadership. However, he did not specify measurable benchmarks for what achieving 50% of Gujarat’s development model would mean, or identify a detailed timeline for individual projects in the statement reported on Friday.
Adhikari Targets Previous Governments
Adhikari said the Left Front and TMC governments had left West Bengal dependent, arguing that the state needed a different development path. His remarks placed the BJP’s emphasis on self-reliance and economic development at the centre of the government’s public pitch.
He also referred to the BJP’s victories in the Rejinagar and Nandigram Assembly bypolls, saying voters had rejected what he described as the “wall of communalism”. Adhikari attributed the results to public confidence in Modi’s development initiatives and the state government. His characterisation of the electoral outcome was a political claim made during the address.
The BJP won both seats by record margins, according to the report. Adhikari also criticised the previous TMC government, alleging that its politics had been divisive along lines of language and regional origin. These remarks formed part of his broader argument that the state needed a change in its development priorities.
Gujarat Visit Shapes Development Pitch
Adhikari’s comparison draws on Gujarat’s development profile under Modi, who served as the state’s chief minister before becoming prime minister. During his visit to Vadnagar, Adhikari described attending the concluding session of the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan programme as a significant personal milestone.
The five-year target now sets an ambitious benchmark for the West Bengal government. The comparison, however, remains broad: Adhikari’s reported remarks did not detail which economic or social indicators would be used to measure progress towards Gujarat’s model. The implementation of specific policies, investment plans and public-service improvements will determine how the pledge translates into governance.
