BJP president JP Nadda on Wednesday called West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee a perfect example of ‘intolerance’ and reminded her that the saffron party is associated with Bengal since the time of Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookherjee.
The BJP national president, who reached Kolkata as part of his two-day visit to the poll-bound state, said, “Today, I want to recollect what Syama Prasad Mookherjee had said about discipline and tolerance…it is very pertinent in the present situation in Bengal. For West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee intolerance is another name.”
Regarding the Jan Sangh founder’s opposition to Article 370, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Nadda said, “Dr Mookhrjee died at Srinagar Jail after his arrest in Jammu and Kashmir (on June 23, 1953). We fulfilled his dream by scrapping Article 370 despite. Those who are questioning the BJP’s connection with Bengal, must read history. It was due to his movement that Bengal is part of India.”
“Everyone knows the way Rabindranathji (Tagore) gave a vision to the country, but today intolerance is increasing in Bengal,” he said, while accusing the Banerjee-led government of “minority appeasement”. Nadda’s remark came amid repeated statements of Trinamool Congress leaders calling the BJP an outsider’s party. Banerjee has claimed she would not allow outsiders to take control of Bengal.
Exuding confidence about forming the next government in the state with more than 200 seats, Nadda hit out at the “dynastic politics” of the ruling TMC and other parties in the country, and asserted for the BJP, “party is family”. “Ours is the only party which works from ‘karyalaya’ (office) and not from the house of a neta (leader),” he said while inaugurating nine party offices across districts in Bengal.
Nadda asserted the saffron party will come to power in the 2021 polls with more than 200 seats ousting the TMC “lock stock and barrel”. “When the entire country was watching the ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ (of Ram temple in Ayodhya), Mamata Banerjee imposed a lockdown in West Bengal on August 5 to prevent people from being part of the occasion at the local level.
“In sharp contrast, the lockdown was withdrawn for Bakr-Eid, on July 31. We don’t have any problem with that, but why was the puja stopped on August 5. This shows that the state government’s policies are driven by appeasement politics,” he said. The BJP leader said he feels “sad as well as embarrassed” whenever he visits the state, which was once known for its distinct culture, but now was infamous for “violence, corruption and nepotism”.
Nadda said the BJP’s victories in the panchayati raj elections in Rajasthan and Bihar Assembly polls have proved that rural India is with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the policies of his government. Urging party workers and leaders to spread the message of development, Nadda said, “The time has come to unmask the corrupt TMC and pack them off in the next Assembly polls.”
He said the BJP had a 2 per cent vote share in the 2011 Assemby polls in West Bengal which went up to 18 per cent votes and two Lok Sabha seats in 2014. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the party bagged 40 per cent votes and 18 seats, he said.
Nadda asked BJP workers to continue the momentum so that the party wins the 2021 polls with more than 200 seats in the 294-member assembly. Referring to the political killings in the state, Nadda claimed more than 130 BJP workers had attained “martyrdom” and their sacrifices will not go waste.
“There is no end to the ongoing political violence in Bengal. Every day, our party workers are being attacked and killed. More than 130 BJP activists have been killed in acts that are against humanity,” he said. He asserted a BJP government alone was capable of creating a “sonar Bangla” (Bengal made of gold), and slammed the TMC government for not joining several central schemes, including Ayushman Bharat and PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, denying their benefits to the poor and farmers
‘Griha Sampark Abhiyan’
The BJP leader later launched the ‘Griha Sampark Abhiyan’ in the city as part of the party’s ‘Aar Noi Annay’ (No More Injustice) campaign in the state. The door-to-door campaign is part of the massive public outreach programme BJP has planned in the run up to the state Assembly election due in April-May 2021.
There was blowing of conch shells and showering of flower petals by women wearing red bordered sarees as Nadda’s motorcade reached Bhawanipore area of the city. Party MPs Locket Chatterjee and Arjun Singh accompanied Nadda as his security tried to hold back the crowd when his vehicle negotiated the narrow lane to take him to some of the houses in it.
“He gave me a booklet and asked me to read it when I greeted him. There was so much crowd and jostling around,” a housewife told reporters later. Nadda visited a few households on Girish Mukherjee Road, a few km away from the chief minister’s residence, briefly interacted with the locals, heard their problems and requested them to give the BJP a chance before boarding the car, party sources said.
“No untoward incident was reported,” a police officer present at the spot, said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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