KOLKATA: Seeking to fan the Bengali pride, former union minister Babul Supriyo who was nominated as TMC's candidate for Ballygunge assembly by-election, on Monday questioned why a Bengali was never made a union cabinet minister during the eight years of the BJP government at the Centre.
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had on Sunday named Babul Supriyo as nominee for the by-election to Ballygunge assembly seat and Shatrughan Sinha as the party's candidate for the by-poll to Asansol parliamentary seat.
The Asansol seat was vacated by Supriyo, who had quit the saffron party last year and joined the TMC.
The Ballygunge assembly seat fell vacant following the death of Bengal minister Subrata Mukherjee in November 2021.
"In the last eight years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah never felt a Bengali could be made a cabinet minister. Do they think a Bengali does not deserve to be a cabinet minister? The parties of north India have always neglected Bengalis. I left the BJP because I was removed as minister from the union minister. I want to thank Mamata Banerjee for allowing me to serve the people," he said.
Supriyo, the former two-time BJP MP, had joined TMC last year just months after he was dropped as a minister following a union ministry reshuffle.
When asked to comment on the contradictions in TMC's 'insider-outsider' poll plank in view of it nominating Sinha for the Asansol seat, Supriyo said there is none as the famed actor is a well-known name across the country.
"There is neither contradiction nor confusion as BJP leaders from other states, who had no love for Bengal or its culture came to the state with a sole intention of winning in the poll.
But in the case of Shatrughan Sinha, this is not the case," he said.
Popularly called `Shotgun' by his fans for his straightforward dialogue deliveries and speeches, Sinha rejected the "outsider" tag his rivals gave him, asserting that he was "no less a Bengali than any other Bengali".
The comments came amid protests by the opposition BJP which questioned why TMC nominated an "outsider" (Sinha hails from Bihar) for the Lok Sabha by-poll when it had won the assembly poll in 2021 on the poll plank of `Bangaliana' (Bengali mores and cultural values).
Reacting to Supriyo's comment, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said the TMC should come clean on its poll plank of Bengali pride.
"Babul Supriyo is saying a lot of things now. But why didn't he say anything when he was in BJP? TMC should come out clean on its narrative of insider-outsider. When BJP leaders came to Bengal, they became an outsider and when the TMC brings leaders from other states, they become Bengalis. This is a laughable theory," he said.
The 'insider-outsider' debate in West Bengal gained strength before the state election in 2021, with ruling TMC embracing Bengali sub-nationalism as its main poll plank to counter the rise of the BJP's Hindutva narrative in the state and branding the saffron party as a "party of outsiders".
TMC had then fanned the Bengali pride by coming up with a poll slogan, "Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chai" (Bengal wants its own daughter meaning Banerjee) and creating a poll narrative of sub-nationalism to counter BJP's identity politics.
The ruling TMC and the opposition BJP locked horns on Monday in their bid to appropriate the Nandigram movement's legacy.
Clashes were reported between the supporters of the two parties when they had gathered near a memorial in Gokulnagar area, built to pay tribute to the 14 people killed in police firing during an anti-land acquisition stir on this day in 2007.
BJP members were seen cleaning the memorial after activists of the ruling TMC paid their respects.
The TMC observes March 14 as 'Nandigram Divas' every year to commemorate the contributions of the fallen agitators.
The party, after coming to power, has also marked the day as 'Krishak Divas'.
The BJP, this year, led by Leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari, organised rallies in Nandigram.
"Fourteen people were martyred in police firing in 2007. I have been coming here every year since 2008 to pay tribute to the sacrifices made by the people of Nandigram. Ironically, police officers who have been given promotions (under TMC rule) are responsible for the Nandigram massacre. They, too, are observing Nandigram Divas now," Adhikari said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during the day, said Bengal is among the top agricultural producers in the country, and the income of farmers in the state has "trebled" under the TMC's rule.
"Every year, we observe March 14 as Krishak Dibas, in remembrance of those innocent but brave villagers of Nandigram who had been killed in police firing in 2007 and in dedication to the other farmers throughout the country and the world," Banerjee wrote on Twitter.
Senior TMC leaders Kunal Ghosh, who visited Nandigram in the morning, paid floral tributes to those killed in the movement and met their family members.
"We don't need lessons on Nandigram or its movement from traitors. The Nandigram movement would not have happened, had Mamata Banerjee not been there. Those trying to appropriate the legacy of Nandigram are insulting the people of this area," Ghosh said.
As the then opposition leader, Banerjee had spearheaded a movement against the Left Front government's acquisition of arable land in Nandigram and Singur for industrialisation.
Her party reaped rich dividends from the agitations, winning 50 per cent of the panchayat seats in 2008, bagging 19 Lok Sabha seats in 2009 and ending the 34-year-long Left Front rule in the state in 2011.
Adhikari was her trusted lieutenant in Nandigram.
The Mamata Banerjee-led camp returned to power for the third successive term last year, notwithstanding a high-pitched campaign by the BJP.
Nandigram witnessed a high-pitched poll campaign in 2021 as Banerjee took on Adhikari at the cradle of the anti-land acquisition movement.
The TMC boss, however, lost the election to Adhikari in the high-profile seat.
She was back as an MLA from her home constituency Bhabanipur with a record margin in a bypoll held in October.