BJP leader and actor Mithun Chakraborty on Friday alleged that attempts were being made to turn West Bengal into “West Bangladesh”, asserting that such efforts would never succeed.
Addressing a public meeting in Cooch Behar district, Chakraborty criticised chief minister Mamata Banerjee over her comments on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying the state was not a separate country.
“While addressing a public meeting in Bankura district, the CM threatened the home minister of India and said that she allowed him to come out of the hotel where he was staying in Kolkata. I wish she would say clearly that the home minister will not be allowed in Bengal, that day will spell doom,” he said.
“This is not a different country as she may be thinking,” he added.
Invoking his film The Kashmir Files, which depicted the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s, Chakraborty alleged that similar attempts were underway in Bengal.
“Attempts are being made to turn West Bengal into West Bangladesh,” he said, citing an incident where singer Lagnajita Chakraborty was allegedly harassed for singing a song praising the mother goddess.
“They may think it has become Bangladesh, but that day will never come. As long as people like Mithun Chakraborty have a drop of blood in their body, this state will never become Bangladesh. We believe in the Constitution, and that is why we have kept ourselves under control,” he said.
Chakraborty said the only way to dislodge the Trinamool Congress government was for all sections to come together. He appealed to Congress, Left and TMC supporters “with conscience” to join hands to change the government in the forthcoming elections.
He also attacked the state government on governance, claiming there was no enterprise, industry, jobs or adequate healthcare infrastructure in Bengal. “Except for corruption, there is nothing in this state,” he alleged.
On healthcare, Chakraborty said it pained him that the Mamata Banerjee government had not implemented the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme, suggesting political reasons behind the decision.
“It probably feels the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be enhanced,” he said.
“The first thing we will do after the BJP government comes to power in Bengal is to introduce the Ayushman Bharat scheme,” Chakraborty added.