KOLKATA: The BJP's West Bengal unit chief Samik Bhattacharya on Thursday claimed that at least five farmers have ended their lives in the state since February and accused the TMC government of abandoning potato growers facing a price crisis for their crop.
He claimed that farmer deaths are being reported in different parts of West Bengal.
Farmers are taking their own lives out of fear of not being able to sell their produce and pay back the lenders, as the West Bengal government has stopped shipping potatoes to other states, the state BJP chief alleged.
Since February, at least five farmers have died by suicide in different districts of the state, he claimed and held the TMC's "careless attitude" responsible for the deaths.
Naming five farmers who allegedly died by suicide, Bhattacharya said, "The state government is not providing any financial relief to potato farmers."
Alleging that cold storage owners were being asked by the state government to buy potatoes from farmers at a higher rate than the market, he alleged that the Mamata Banerjee dispensation was trying to shift its responsibility to cold storage owners.
"It is the primary duty of the government to stand by the farmers. The government is supposed to fix a minimum support price to assist them and keep an eye on the sale of their produce to ensure they get a good price," the BJP leader said.
Claiming that the agriculture sector in West Bengal was passing through a challenging situation, Bhattacharya said, "Illegal sandmining is leading to rivers changing course and fertile lands going underwater, affecting agricultural produce."
On the occasion of Ram Navami, he slammed the ruling dispensation, claiming the celebrations have been affected in different parts of the state by those trying to create division among the people.
"This is the land of Lord Ram, so why can't Ram Navami be celebrated?" he asked, maintaining, "both Ram and Rahim will coexist".
He claimed that it was because of the TMC's "politics of hatred" that Asaduddin Owaisi has entered West Bengal's political scene.
Owaisi's party, the AIMIM, has joined hands with former TMC MLA Humayun Kabir's newly-formed AJUP to fight the assembly polls in West Bengal.
"There is no difference between the TMC and those propagating the politics of hatred," the BJP leader said.
Accusing the supporters of the ruling dispensation of indulging in violence, he said, "In several cases of crime, both the victim and the accused are from the Trinamool Congress."
Bhattacharya claimed that more than 300 BJP workers have been killed in West Bengal since 2016.
"Now the TMC supporters are attacking their own," he said, while expressing anguish over the murder of a man in Kolkata's Patuli in the early hours of Thursday.
The BJP leader said the Election Commission should ensure the safety and security of every person in West Bengal amid the charged assembly poll atmosphere.
Bhattacharya also announced that TMC's Purulia Zilla Parishad member and a Santhali language expert, Kalendranath Mandi, has joined the BJP.