Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday stepped up the BJP’s attack in poll-bound West Bengal, targeting chief minister Mamata Banerjee and former TMC leader Humayun Kabir over the Babri Masjid issue, illegal immigration and law and order.
At a rally in Raniganj in Paschim Bardhaman district, Shah said Mamata and Kabir were “two of a kind” and asserted that the BJP would not allow a Babri Masjid to be built in the state if it comes to power.
He linked Mamata’s stand on the Ram temple in Ayodhya with Kabir’s proposal to build a Babri-like mosque in Murshidabad’s Beldanga.
“The Congress, Mamata Banerjee's TMC and other parties such as the DMK, Samajwadi Party, and Bahujan Samaj Party supported keeping Ram Lalla under a tent for 550 years. After receiving an overwhelming mandate from people in 2019, Modiji built the Ram temple in Ayodhya, which leaders like Banerjee opposed. Now, Humayun Kabir, who is cast in the same mould as Mamata Banerjee, wants to build Babri Masjid in Bengal,” he said.
“The BJP will never allow a Babri Masjid to be built in this state after it wins the upcoming polls,” Shah added.
Kabir, an MLA from Murshidabad’s Bharatpur, was suspended from the Trinamool Congress in December after proposing the construction of a Babri-like mosque. He has since formed his own party and is contesting the election.
Shah’s remarks come amid a row over a purported video in which Kabir is heard claiming links with BJP leaders and referring to a financial deal. The authenticity of the video has not been independently verified.
Mamata on Sunday alleged that the BJP had “struck a Rs 1,000-crore deal” with Kabir to defeat the TMC. Earlier, addressing rallies in Birbhum’s Mayureshwar and Khayrasole, Shah said voters would respond through the ballot.
“People of Bengal will reply to bombs and bullets with votes,” he said, adding that the BJP would “hang the syndicate and cut money promoters upside down to make them straight” once voters “bid adieu to the TMC government”.
He said the BJP was set to form the next government in the state. “The writing on the wall is that the BJP will form a government in Bengal as the people of the state have decided to bid ‘Ta Ta Bye Bye’ to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee,” he said.
Shah also warned those he described as TMC-backed elements. “I advise TMC goons to stay in their homes on April 23 (the first phase of polling), else we will pick them up one by one on May 4 and throw them in jail.”
On law and order, he alleged that BJP workers had faced attacks for a long time. “After May 5, a day after counting of votes, saffron party workers will drag their torturers out of the netherworld and bring them to justice,” he said.
Illegal immigration was a key part of his speech. “Can the chief minister or her nephew (Abhishek Banerjee) throw infiltrators out? Only the BJP can,” he said, accusing the state government of not cooperating on border fencing.
“Mamata Banerjee is not giving land for border fencing, but blaming the BSF for infiltration in Bengal,” he said, adding that the BJP would allot 600 acres for fencing within 45 days of coming to power.
“And not just from Bengal, we will pick infiltrators one by one from the whole country and throw them out,” he added. He also referred to national security.
“The Modi government crushed Naxalism in the country, and now it is time for infiltrators to be thrown out,” he said, alleging that illegal immigrants were “stealing jobs, gobbling poor people's food and orchestrating riots”.
Shah reiterated the BJP’s promise to bring in a Uniform Civil Code. “Once enforced, the UCC will put an end to the practice of certain members getting married four times,” he said.
He accused the TMC of corruption, claiming the party had embezzled Rs 5,000 crore. He also criticised Banerjee over remarks on women’s safety.
“Shame on Mamata Banerjee for saying that women should stay at home after 7 pm. We will ensure an environment where young girls can ride their scooties at 1 am,” he said.
Shah listed welfare promises, including implementation of the 7th Pay Commission, financial support for women and unemployed youth, assistance for pregnant women and specially-abled persons, and expanded health insurance.
“There will be 33 per cent women's reservation in government jobs, free rides for women in state buses and Rs 5 lakh free health insurance cover under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. We will also increase the annual grant to farmers to Rs 9,000,” he said.
He ended by taking aim at Mamata’s leadership. “Mamata Banerjee says Bengal will be run from Delhi; I tell her that after poll results, the state's chief minister will be the son of the soil, and not from the TMC,” he said.
