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Shah reaches out to tribals, takes swipe at CM over ‘conspiracy’
Shah promised a plethora of projects for the tribal belt, saying these would figure in the BJP’s election manifesto.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will fully implement the Forest Rights Act in tribal belts of West Bengal, buy all forest products at maximum support price, provide employment to all and spend thousands of crores of rupees on tribespeople if it wins the assembly election, Union home minister Amit Shah said in Bankura district on Monday.
He was supposed to address his first rally at Jhargram but his helicopter could not land because of a technical snag. Shah was then flown to Ranibandh. A few hours later, he virtually addressed Jhargram.
The Union minister targeted chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who was addressing rallies in the adjoining Purulia district where tribal voters are equally important for both parties. “My helicopter developed a snag but I will not say it is a conspiracy. There can be a snag in a helicopter ,” Shah said, referring to allegations by Banerjee that injuries sustained by her in Nandigram last week was a conspiracy.
In Ranibandh, Shah said, “We saw Mamata Didi got hurt in the leg. A probe is on to find out how it happened. TMC says it was a conspiracy to assault her. The Election Commission says it was an accident. God knows what is true. Didi you say you are hurt and sad. Do you feel the pain of the mothers of those 130 BJP workers who were killed in political violence?”
Shah promised a plethora of projects for the tribal belt, saying these would figure in the BJP’s election manifesto. His promises included a fund of ₹250 crore for places that tribal people consider holy, schools for children in all community blocks, ₹3000 crore for an irrigation dam on Gandheswari river in Bankura and a university in Jhargram in the memory of tribal scholar Pundit Raghunath Murmu.
Throughout the day, BJP workers staged agitations at several places in Bengal, including the central election office in Kolkata, opposing the fielding of some Trinamool Congress (TMC) turncoats.
Party workers broke guard rails and demonstrated in front of the BJP’s Hastings office to stop party national vice president Mukul Roy and Singh from entering its premises.
Demonstrators even banged on the bonnet of Roy’s car and threatened to storm the office, as the police faced a difficult time controlling them.
In Singur, BJP workers locked up party functionaries in their office over the nomination of another TMC turncoat Rabindranath Bhattacharya.
“This is not a major issue. We will sort it out through discussions,” said BJP MP Arjun Singh. Shah and senior leaders met late into the night in Kolkata.
