KOLKATA: BJP President Amit Shah on Thursday exuded confidence that the saffron party will win 22 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in Lok Sabha elections next year. Speaking at a public rally in Purulia district on Thursday, the BJP President said: "BJP has grown by leaps and bounds since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and will take the number one position in 2019 Lok Sabha elections which will be an indicator as to who will rule the state in 2021 Assembly elections."
The BJP President launched an all-out attack against West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo over her attempts to forge an anti-BJP national alliance and accused her administration of usurping central funds. "Mamata didi, surely forge a national alliance as we also want a healthy competition but first hold your ground in Bengal which is slipping away from under your feet," he said. "Narendra Modi administration had released Rs 3.6 lakh crores for development of Bengal but that amount has not reached the grassroots and has been usurped by TMC's syndicates," he added. T
he BJP President further brought serious allegations against Mamata Banerjee administration accusing it of not only harbouring coal, sand and cattle mafia in the state but also failing to stop drug trade from Bangladesh and influx of illegal immigrants from the country. Amit Shah also blamed the Left and TMC regimes for de-industrialisation of the state.
"When India became independent, West Bengal's share to the total Indian GDP was 25 per cent but now it has come down to only 4 per cent thanks to CPM and TMC rule. The only factories that flourish here are bomb factories. However, violence is not the culture of Bengal but the explosions of TMC's bombs are muting the melody of Rabindra Sangeet," he added.
The BJP President also claimed that 20 BJP workers were killed in the panchayat elections and 2 crore people were not allowed to cast their votes despite which the BJP won over 7,000 Gram Panchayat seats. "BJP's flag is flying high in 19 states and now it is Bengal's turn," he added.
Earlier, he offered prayers at Tarapith Shakti Peetha in Birbhum district on Thursday morning and met the relatives of deceased BJP workers Trilochan Mahato, Dulal Kumar and Jagannath Tudu in Purulia. He left for Delhi from Andal Airport near Durgapur on Thursday evening.