KOLKATA: Union Home minister Amit Shah on Sunday made it clear that West Bengal’s Chief Minister will be someone from its own soil, not an outsider.
This comes as a reply to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s non-stop attack on the BJP’s central leadership labelling them as outsiders,
"The change in people’s mind is clearly visible. Mamata Banerjee’s misrule will meet an end in the upcoming elections and Bengal will get a chief minister who is from West Bengal, not an outsider,’’ said Shah.
Mamata, on several occasions, labelled the BJP as a party of outsiders citing the national leader’s Bengal visits. "When you were in Congress and Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi visited Bengal, did you call them outsiders?’’ said Shah.
Without mentioning the possible deadline of implementing contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Shah raised the infiltration issue and said the people of Bengal will bring a change in the upcoming Assembly elections to stop it.
"The people of Bengal are unhappy with the infiltrators from Bangladesh. They will bring the change to stop infiltration from the neighbouring country,’’ said Shah while addressing at the end of a roadshow in Bolpur town in Birbhum.
He said after the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccination process are over, the Centre will discuss to implement CAA.
Impressed by the presence of thousands of BJP supporters in the roadshow, Shah said it was a reflection of the love for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Continuing attack on Mamata Banerjee's nephew, he said Bengal’s people are determined to bring a change to end the nephew’s dadagiri (highhandedness).
Hitting out at Mamata for supporting farmers’ movement, Shah said, "You are barring the Centre’s financial aid for farmers in Bengal. When I need is just your consent with your signature. Send me is as if you are inviting me on the occasion of your nephew’s birthday.’’
In a rally on Saturday in Midnapore, where Banerjee’s once-trusted lieutenant Suvendu Adhikari joined the BJP, Shah hit out at the CM’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee saying the party’s ma, mati, manush (mother, motherland, people) slogan has now become tolbaji, tushtikaran and bhaipobad (extortion, appeasement and nephew-ism).
Before joining the roadshow, Shah and other BJP functionaries had lunch at the house of a local folk singer.
Sources in the BJP said Shah’s schedule during his two-day visit was aimed to woo the heart of Bengali electorates. "On Saturday, he paid tribute to Swami Vivekananda and martyr Khudiram Bose and today he paid his tribute to Rabindranath Tagore. All of them are Bangalis’ ikons,’’ said a BJP leader.
After his Bolpur visit, Shah alleged that Bengal is one of the underdeveloped states in the fields of health, education, industry, investment and GDP growth.
Condemning the attack on BJP’s national president JP Nadda’s convoy, Shah said it was an attack on democracy. "The reaction of the ruling party was a reflection in favour of the attack," he alleged.