Kolkata, Apr 18: The BJP’s West Bengal unit chief Samik Bhattacharya on Saturday threw a “living fossil” barb at the Trinamool Congress government in the state, asserting that it was on “borrowed time” and has been virtually rejected by people.
Alleging the TMC regime has crushed democracy while law and order has collapsed, he claimed that political violence reached alarming heights in the past few years, while police looked the other way.
“People of the state want restoration of democracy. There has been a total absence of law and order in West Bengal, where 253 BJP office-bearers were killed by the TMC after the 2021 elections.
“Hundreds of women were raped and tortured. Democracy came under attack as TMC’s goons were involved in mayhem,” he said.
Bhattacharya reminded the gathering that in 2011, Mamata Banerjee ended the 34-year-old Left Front reign with the slogan ‘Restoring Democracy’.
“Soon after, her party appropriated the CPI(M)’s goondaism and muscle power, and unleashed a reign of terror for the next two terms. She tried to intimidate people and opposition parties so that no one could stand up to them.”
“However, the ‘syndicate raj’ and goondaism and muscle power they almost institutionalised in every election were being resented by the voters who could not open their mouths in fear,” the state BJP chief claimed.
Accusing the TMC of “politicising everything”, he said the ruling party disrespected the governor’s post in every way.
“It was unprecedented that the Assembly Speaker had made it clear that the governor has to take his consent before attending a House session.
“It is unprecedented that the vice chancellor of a state university did not respond to the governor’s phone call, saying he needs the government’s nod. This is another proof that democracy is under grave threat in West Bengal,” the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said.
He said that the Rs 1.92 lakh crore debt that West Bengal was under when the TMC took over the reins has risen to Rs 7 lakh crore now.
In the 15 years of the TMC’s rule, 1,600 companies faced liquidation while 6,300 firms shifted headquarters, the state BJP chief claimed.
“Those sharing photos with the chief minister at Bengal Global Business Summits are not investing here. Investor confidence has been shaken by Singur and Nandigram land acquisition movements and Tata Motors’ leaving Bengal. The BJP will restore confidence among investors once it wins the polls,” he said.
Bhattacharya said the TMC, while weaving a “false narrative” of attack on Bengali-speaking migrants in other states, has inadvertently confirmed the exodus of merit, capital and labour from Bengal.
“If you care to hear people’s voices and demands, you will see an anti-TMC wave sweeping in the state. People will vote us to power as we have given them the alternative, through our development pledges, and our roadmap charted in the manifesto,” he added.
Lambasting the TMC and Congress over the NDA failing to pass the Constitution amendment bill to give women quota in 2029 in Parliament, Bhattacharya said, “These parties should remember that women are most politically conscious.”
“During the Congress-led UPA’s rule, the women’s reservation bill had been discussed several times but never executed in letter and spirit. The BJP took the initiative and got it passed.”
“When the matter of its implementation arose, the TMC and the Congress did not allow it to pass due to their political considerations,” he said.
Over the deletion of 90 lakh voters under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Bengal BJP chief said, “The Election Commission should be held accountable if the name of any genuine voter gets omitted.
“We have often been asking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to come and see for himself how the TMC has been sabotaging the SIR exercise by putting hurdles in the data entry operation.”
The EC, however, should ensure that not a single Bangladeshi or Rohingya is included in the voter list, which had been the real intent of the TMC supremo and her other leaders, Bahttacharya said.
“Why did she go to the SC when some petitions were already pending. Who do the CM wish to save and protect?” the BJP Rajya Sabha MP posed.
Claiming that personalities like Syama Prasad Mookerjee had made people’s dream for a “Hindu homeland” a reality, Bhattacharya said, “Bengali Hindus would have suffered a lot in the absence of people like Mookerjee.” Mookerjee is the founding president of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the precursor to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“The intellectuals in Kolkata, who call for abolishing the border with Bangladesh, should condemn the persecution and killing of liberal minded anti-jihadi people and Hindus of Bangladesh.
“We haven’t seen any intellectuals in Kolkata hitting the streets against the attacks and harassment by radical elements in Bangladesh, he said while clarifying that the BJP was “against radical jihadi forces, and not nationalist Indian muslims”.
Asked about raids by federal agencies in the houses of TMC candidates and those associated with the party ahead of polling, he said, “The BJP has nothing to do with those raids. It was purely part of the ongoing probe into certain cases involving those leaders.”
To a question about the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, Bhattacharya said, “We don’t have any CM face or mask. But if BJP wins the polls, the chief minister will be someone from Bengal, as asserted by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.”
