KOLKATA: Using Trinamool Congress’ signature venue in front of Victoria House in Esplanade as a launch pad of campaign in the run up to next year’s Lok Sabha election, Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched a blistering attack on Mamata Banerjee and said the contentious CAA would be implemented despite the West Bengal CM’s resistance and “no one can stop it”.
“Bengal is gripped by infiltration, appeasement, political violence and corruption. CAA is now an act of the country and no one can stop its implementation. It will definitely be implemented despite Mamatadi’s resistance,” said Shah addressing the rally. The CAA has been in a limbo as the Centre is yet to frame its rules amid the Opposition’s strong objections.
Though the home minister had set a target of 35 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 in Bengal, he did not mention any number of seats as a goal in the next year’s general elections. In 2019, the BJP had bagged 18 LS seats. “The people of Bengal are saying Didi aapka samay ab samapt ho chukka (Didi, your time is up now). Modiji sends crores of rupees for ensuring welfare in Bengal, but the syndicate raj in the state doesn’t allow the funds to reach the poor. You should remember that in order to bring the BJP government in power here in 2016, you will have to lay its foundation in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and ensure that you make Modiji Prime Minister of the country again,” said Shah in his 25-minute speech.
Shah did not miss the opportunity to play the Ram Mandir issue as a political card. “The CPI(M), Congress and TMC were against the Ram temple. The Prime Minister will participate in the installation of the Lord Ram idol in Ayodhya on January 22,” he announced.
Shah cited figures of the Centre’s grants for West Bengal during the regime of NDA and compared it with the UPA government’s tenure while castigating Mamata for staging demonstrations in protest against the dues from the Central government and rubbishing her allegations.
Referring to the result of the 2021 assembly election, Shah accused Mamata of winning the battle by rigging. “You won the election by rigging. The people of Bengal blessed the BJP with around 2.30 crore votes and 77 seats. Their enthusiasm states that they have decided to bring the BJP in power in 2026 in Bengal. We will derail the TMC-led government with a majority of two-third votes in 2026,” he said.
Referring to arrests of TMC ministers in connection with alleged scams, Shah challenged Mamata to suspend them. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said Shah knew that BJP would be washed away from Bengal and that was why he made false claims.
It was from the same venue in 2014 that Shah, as the then BJP president, had launched the party’s 2016 poll campaign. This time the police had denied permission but the BJP moved the court, which dismissed the administration’s contention.
TMC MPs accused of disgracing Parliament
Amit Shah, in an apparent reference to Mahua Moitra’s cash-for-query case, asserted on Wednesday that TMC MPs have compromised the dignity of Parliament by accepting bribes and gifts. While addressing a mega rally in Kolkata, Shah called for the removal of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in the 2026 assembly polls, setting the stage for this initiative in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. “The TMC has stained West Bengal’s reputation due to corruption,” Shah stated without explicitly naming anyone.