KOLKATA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday while addressing a programme to mark the statehood day ‘Paschimbanga Divas’, claimed that there had been a conspiracy to merge Bengal with Pakistan but Shyama Prasad Mukhopadhyay protested against the sinister move.
The Prime Minister said that Bengal had "broken free from its shackles" and embarked on a new journey of development, asserting that the change brought about by a single electoral verdict was visible across the state.
"Today, I have the good fortune for the first time to come to you after the assembly elections and the swearing-in of the new government in Bengal. A new freshness is being felt in the air after the change in power. It feels as if Bengal has now broken free from its shackles, and the return of Bengal's glory has begun," he asserted adding, "It is clearly visible in Bengal how your one vote can bring about a change."
Accusing the previous Trinamool Congress government of halting the transfer of land to BSF for border fencing along the India-Bangladesh frontier, Modi said the process has kickstarted after the BJP came to power in the state.
Remembering the contribution of Shyama Prasad Mukhopadhyay behind the present day West Bengal being a part of India, “Once upon a time, there had been a larger conspiracy to make Bengal a part of East Pakistan. Congress had also given up the fight against the conspiracy but it was Shyama Prasad Mukhopadhyay who led the protest against the attempt.”
Spearheading attacks on Congress, Left and Trinamool Congress Modi accused the oppositions of making West Bengal a haven for illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators because of their appeasement politics.
“The new government has already started development works with superfast speed because of double engine governments at the Centre and state. During Trinamool regime, there was cut money culture in different fields and those days are gone. They had stalled the various central government-funded development projects like the Metro railway schemes. All these projects have been started after BJP came to power in the state,” Modi said.
Shyama Prasad had held a Hindu Mahasabha convention in 1947 in Tarakeswar, where a resolution passed on 20 June to ensure that present-day West Bengal remained a part of India rather than becoming part of East Pakistan in 1947, according to the saffron camp.
To mark the day the state government has decided to observe the state foundation day ‘Paschimbanga Divas’ on 20 June every year.
The governor R N Ravi and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari attended the programme today.
Earlier, the Mamata Banerjee government had passed a resolution in the Assembly to observe the State Foundation Day on Poila Boishakh, a move that the BJP had opposed as the principal Opposition party.
The BJP had last year observed 20 June as Statehood Day in the Bengal Assembly to protest against the Trinamool Congress government’s decision.
Shyama Prasad, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological predecessor of the BJP, had organised a four-day convention at Tarakeshwar in Hooghly from 4 to 7 April in 1947, where a decision was taken to ensure that West Bengal remained within India and that the Hindu-majority areas of undivided Bengal did not become part of East Pakistan.
Later, on 20 June, 1947 the resolution supporting the partition of Bengal and the inclusion of West Bengal in India was passed in the Bengal Legislative Assembly, where Shyama Prasad was the sole Hindu Mahasabha MLA.
In a two-day visit to Bengal, the Prime Minister landed at Kolkata airport this afternoon and left for the venue at Tarakeswar by a chopper. He will lead the 12th International Yoga Day celebrations at Red Road in Kolkata on Sunday.
