Basudeb Das said that he was happy to have Mr. Shah at his residence.
Calcutta:
Baul singer Basudeb Das, who was promised financial help by the West Bengal government, regretted not being able to speak to Union Interior Minister Amit Shah when he left the poor people’s artist’s house in Santinketan shortly after have lunch there on Sunday.
The BJP, on the other hand, said that TMC “woke up” to the baul singer’s plight only after Shah visited his home.
Das, to whom TMC Birbhum district head Anubrata Mondal promised monetary assistance from the state government, said he will attend Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s rally in the district on December 29.
“I had some things to say to Amit Shah Ji, who is such an important person. I wanted to tell her about the condition of the Baul artists and if anything could be done (to improve it).
“The state is already offering us help, but if there could be some central initiative. But more importantly, I wanted to tell you about the financial difficulties I am facing in financing higher education for my daughter, who recently passed her master’s degree,” Das said. reporters in the TMC office, with Mr. Mondal sitting next to him.
Das said he was happy to have Shah at his residence and savor the delicacies and listen to his baul song, but that he was upset that he did not have a chance to speak with the Union Minister of the Interior.
“No BJP leader contacted me after Amit Shah Ji left,” he said.
Mr Mondal said: “The BJP may have forgotten Basudeb Baul after that day, but we are by his side 365 days. He will receive financial support from the state government.”
Das said he had been getting rice and wheat regularly under the state government’s free ration distribution for the poor during the shutdown period.
BJP National Secretary Anupam Hazra, who had overseen Amit Shah’s lunch program at Das’s residence, said in a Facebook post: “TMC woke up to Basudeb’s plight only after Amit Shah Ji had lunch and not in all these years. This shows the BJP leads the detection of the poor in society. “
“If any poor family receives help from the state government after Amit Shah Ji has lunch at home, there will be more such programs. Also, we know that after the 2021 assembly elections, Basudeb Baul himself will share his experience of having been kicked out of his home by TMC, “Hazra added.
In a similar incident in November, local TMC leaders had met with members of a tribal family in Bankura district and offered them help after Shah had lunch at his residence.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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