Amit Shah concluded his 2-day trip to Bengal today
Calcutta:
“When I said in 2018 in the Kolkata press club that we could get 22 seats in parliament, a lot of people had laughed. Today, when I say that the BJP will get 200 seats in Bengal next year, I am glad not to see anyone in this room he’s laughing. Today is my turn to smile. “
Union Interior Minister and BJP Leader Amit Shah was optimistic when he concluded a two-day visit to Bengal to fix organizational folds in BJP Bengal and boost morale ahead of the Assembly elections to be held on next year.
Two hours after their press meeting, the Trinamool Congress issued a statement accusing Amit Shah of visiting Bengal with “his baggage of lies”.
“Their mission to defame and insult Bengal continues. The people of Bengal are ready to fight the battle, the people of Bengal will accept the challenge,” a statement read.
Trinamool dismissed Shah’s comments as “dirty politics.” “His predictions have been historically wrong,” the statement said.
At his press conference, Shah was asked to confirm whether the head of the BCCI, Sourav Ganguly, or the minister of Trinamool, Suvendu Adhikari, was joining the BJP, as rumored. His answer: “Why limit ourselves to just these two names? There are many more names on the list. I haven’t talked to anyone. But wait and see.”
These were some of the lighter comments made by Mr. Shah. For the most part, the BJP leader launched a scathing attack on Mamata Banerjee and her party, saying they had institutionalized corruption, politicized the administration, and criminalized politics.
“Why haven’t crime figures been shared with the National Office of Criminal Records since 2018? What is it trying to hide?” he said.
He demanded a white paper on all political killings in Bengal, which he said had the worst record in the country. It alleged that 100 BJP workers had been killed in Bengal in the last two and a half years and, in most cases, there were no FIRs, arrests or charge sheets.
Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee was the repeated target of their attacks. In his opening remarks at the press meeting, Shah said: “Mamata Banerjee has only one ambition, to make her nephew the next prime minister. Does Bengal want a dynastic government?”
He also strongly returned to his agenda against Mamata Banerjee, his alleged minority appeasement policy, which he said has left many people in Bengal feeling like “second-degree citizens”.
Putting together his attack from multiple fronts, Shah said: “In Bengal there are three laws, one law for the vote bank or minorities; one law for the nephew and one law for the rest of ordinary citizens.”
“You (the people of Bengal) have given the opportunity to Congress, Left and Trinamool. Give us a chance. We promise to build ‘Shonar Bangla (Golden Bengal) in five years. We will stop ghuspeti (inflitration) in Bengal, secure borders,” he said. .
On Thursday, at a public event in the state’s Bankura district, a tribal-dominated part of the Jangalmahal area, Mr. Shah said he felt “massive public anger” against Ms. Banerjee.
Tonight, he said, “People feel that BJP can change the scene in Bengal.”
“In 2011, Bengal saw Parivartan (change) with the motto of Mamata Banerjee from Maa, Mati, Manush (Mother, Homeland, People). Bengal had high hopes back then, but now that motto has turned into appeasement, autocracy and extortion, “said the Minister of the Interior. said.
He also attacked the state government for allegedly blocking the Center’s welfare schemes, such as PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi, which gives farmers a grant of Rs 6,000 per year, or Ayushmaan Bharat, which provides up to Rs 5 lakh in insurance coverage. universal.
Trinamool has rejected Shah’s prediction of 200 seats for his party in Bengal.
“People have seen what your predictions are like before. In the previous elections in Bihar in 2015, Delhi in 2015 and 2020, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, your predictions, your numbers were totally wrong. People will see you again in Bengal”. in 2021. Rest assured that Bengal has always stood up to protect the soul of India, “the statement said.
.
