One remarkable characteristic of the BJP after it stormed to power in 2014 has been its aggressive intent of gaining power in states and regions where it traditionally never had a base. At the forefront of the BJP’s campaign has been the master strategist, BJP chief Amit Shah, and one of the states on his radar is West Bengal. Yesterday, Amit Shah addressed a massive rally in Kolkata in which he announced BJP’s rise in the state and declared that TMC will be uprooted from the state.
The enthusiasm with which the crowds thronged this rally showed how Amit Shah’s war cry against Mamata in West Bengal proved to be a grand success. Despite all odds, scores of youths attended the significant rally and were spotted demanding Mamata’s trounce with brimming enthusiasm. In his speech, Amit Shah took cognizance of the unbelievable response that he received from the general public. The BJP president stated that it has become clear from these massive crowds that people of the state want to get rid of Mamata Banerjee. He also challenged Mamata and said that she cannot suppress the voice of BJP in the state anymore.
Shah did not mince words and talked about all important matters concerning West Bengal. He expressed dismay at how 65 BJP workers were mercilessly slaughtered by TMC hooligans in the state, and that despite such blatant political violence, the BJP was performing reasonably well in the TMC ruled state. Persuading the people of West Bengal, the BJP president stated that the Congress, the Communist parties and the TMC have ruled the state for decades but failed to develop it. Therefore, West Bengal can progress further only if BJP is elected to power. Taking a strong dig at the Mamata led government, Shah stated that since she came to power, West Bengal has been plagued by rising corruption, high crime rates and the shutting down of industries.
However, the highlight of the rally came only when Amit Shah took Mamata Banerjee to the cleaners on account of her anti-national and objectionable stance towards Assam’s NRC. He made it clear that Mamata’s opposition to the update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam would have no impact on the exercise, and the process would be completed in a judicious manner. The BJP chief stated in unambiguous terms, “Mamata di, the NRC will not stop at your opposition. You can oppose, Congress party’s leader Rahul Gandhi can oppose, but our commitment is to complete the process of NRC in Assam in a judicious manner.” Shah slammed Mamata for patronizing Bangladeshi infiltrators and indicted her for safeguarding the illegal immigrants only because they have become her vote bank. Sounding warning bells, Shah claimed that the way infiltration was taking place, “West Bengal will turn into West Bangladesh”.
The enthusiasm with which this rally was attended and the manner in which Shah did not shy away from talking about a range of serious issues concerning the state of West Bengal, it is clear that the BJP is not going to hold back and is going to absolutely demolish Mamata’s stronghold in the state. BJP will also be backing itself to conquer the all important frontier given how the BJP has been able to taste success in states like Tripura and Assam. It is important to note that BJP was traditionally seen as non-existent in such states. However, driven by rise in popularity post 2014, the BJP was able to storm to power in such states.
BJP workers have given their blood in order to rescue the state from Mamata’s dictatorial, anti-Hindu communal and pro-Bangladeshi rule. Under Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal has become a communal tinderbox. In fact, Hindus living in West Bengal were always made to live under a sense of fear from their government. First, it was the anti-Hindu minded Communists, and now it is the TMC, which has used politically and communally motivated violence against Hindus in order to pin them down. Amit Shah’s rally is a massive glimmer of hope for Bengali Hindus who need to safeguard themselves against the mayhem unleashed by the TMC led government.