Onda/Chhatna (WB): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday asserted that if the BJP is voted to power in West Bengal, it will end TMC’s ‘syndicate raj’, and said those involved in atrocities against women of the state would be brought to justice.
Addressing a BJP rally at Chhatna in Bankura district, Shah accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of playing “victim card” to gain sympathy.
“Mamata Banerjee plays the victim card. At times, she wears a bandage on her leg or head (to gain sympathy). Mamata didi, this election, you may wear a bandage on your leg, head or hand, but people of Bengal will not vote for you,” Shah claimed.
During the eight-phase 2021 assembly elections in Bengal, Banerjee campaigned in a wheelchair with a plaster on her leg following an injury while canvassing for party candidates.
The BJP leader also alleged that in Bengal, “goondas and infiltrators rule the roost”.
“We will end the ‘syndicate raj’ of the TMC government after winning the Bengal assembly elections. The time has come to say ‘tata bye bye to Hirak Rani’,” he said, while addressing a poll rally at Onda in the same district earlier in the day.
Shah referred to Oscar-winning filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s classic ‘Hirak Rajar Deshe’ (The Kingdom of Diamonds), released in 1980. The movie, starring Utpal Dutt and Soumitra Chatterjee, is about a king who is an autocrat and tortures dissenters and his people.
Shah alleged that one has to “pay cut money to the ruling party or go through syndicates for everything in the state, from buying cement to sand”.
He claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked women not to venture out at night, while a girl in BJP-ruled Assam can move out wearing gold ornaments at even 1 am without fear.
“A BJP government will ensure round-the-clock security for women in Bengal,” he said.
Maintaining that the rape-murder of an on-duty doctor in state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital brought shame to Bengal, he claimed that women in the state’s Sandeshkhali suffered atrocities for years at the hands of TMC goons.
“All those involved in atrocities against women during Mamata Banerjee’s rule will be brought to justice,” Shah asserted.
He also assured “potato farmers of Bengal that their produce will be sent across India, so that they get remunerative prices”.
The West Bengal government had earlier imposed restrictions on selling potatoes to other states. Now, the farmers have been alleging that they are facing a crisis of a price crash due to a bumper crop this year.
The Union home minister also stated that infiltrators will be thrown out once the BJP comes to power in Bengal.
“India is not a ‘dharamshala’ (free guest house), and infiltrators who pose a threat to the country will be thrown out,” Shah said.
Stating that more than 300 BJP workers were killed in Bengal in political violence, Shah assured that everyone responsible for these will be brought to book after a saffron party government is formed in the state.
Asserting that the Election Commission has made adequate arrangements with paramilitary forces for ensuring free and fair polls, the union home minister said that action would be taken against those trying to indulge in any kind of mischief during the polling process.
“We will ensure that no TMC goon engages in mischief during the assembly polls,” he said.
Elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held in two phases – on April 23 and April 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
