KOLKATA: Rejecting the demand of a section of BJP workers in Bengal to impose President’s Rule in the state, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday told them that the Trinamool Congress came to power with a huge mandate and that the BJP would have to fight the party politically. On the last day of his two-day visit to the eastern state, Shah was interacting with party functionaries in Kolkata.
During the event, a section of party functionaries raised the “atrocities” committed by the TMC against the saffron party. They alleged the police were acting at the behest of the ruling party and demanded imposition of President’s Rule.
Shah, however, ruled out the possibility of imposing Article 356 in the state. ‘The Trinamool Congress came back to power for the third straight term with a huge mandate. An elected government can’t be overthrown by imposing Article 356. We will have to fight against the Bengal’s ruling party politically,’” Shah reportedly said in the meeting.
A senior BJP leader said Shah told them to strengthen the party from grassroots level. “The second-in-command in the Central government rubbished the demand of our party leaders. He said the BJP workers would have to continue fight against TMC’s atrocities. He also cited how he was attacked and framed in false cases when the BJP was in the opposition in Gujarat. He reminded us that the party workers in grassroots level will have to fight hard and strengthen the party’s position in the state,’’ he said.
Shah reportedly reminded his party workers about the political violence faced by rival Mamata during the erstwhile CPM rule. “Bengal CM also faced attacks by the then ruling CPM but she continued her movement and achieved her goal. But the TMC is following the footprint of the CPM and unleashing attack on our party workers. It is because the TMC no longer believes in democracy. We believe in democracy, so we will have to fight it politically,’” he said.
Shah on Friday evening visited BCCI president Saurav Ganguly’s house to have dinner with the former skipper of Indian cricket team. Ganguly dismissed any political angle to Shah’s visit.
Shah Seeks CBI probe into ‘political murder’
Meeting the family members of a BJP youth wing leader who was found dead in an abandoned room in Kolkata, Shah said the Union Home Ministry has taken the incident “seriously” and sought a report from the state government. He said the probe into the “political murder” should be handed over to the CBI. Shah alleged that death of Arjun Chowrasia (27) was the fall out of political rivalry. “Yesterday, the Trinamool Congress-led government completed its first year of storming back to power for third straight term in Bengal, and on the next day, the murder of our karyakarta took place.”