Will settle every score with interest, Bengal BJP boss rails against TMC | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Will settle every score with interest, Bengal BJP boss rails against TMC

Hindustan Times, Kolkata | By
Jun 23, 2020 07:14 PM IST

On the death anniversary of Jana Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, Dilip Ghosh asked the youth to sacrifice one year of their lives to over throw the TMC government.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) pugnacious president of the Bengal unit, Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday swore to draw the sword to counter political violence in the poll-bound state as homage to nationalist leader Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder president of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, forerunner of the BJP.

West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh said his party will counter political violence by Trinamool Congress in kind.(PTI)
West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh said his party will counter political violence by Trinamool Congress in kind.(PTI)

While the BJP observed Mookerjee’s death anniversary as Balidan Diwas (martyr’s day) throughout the country, Ghosh’s inflammatory speech in Bengal added to the volatility in the state’s politics and evoked criticism for being ignorant of Mookerjee’s thoughts.

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Trinamool Congress (TMC), Congress and Left parties condemned Ghosh who talked of avenging the deaths of 104 party workers allegedly murdered since 2014.

“The BJP government has realised Mookerjee’s dreams by scrapping Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 and passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. We will follow his struggle and sacrifice,” Ghosh said on Tuesday after paying homage to Mookerjee at the Keoratala crematorium in south Kolkata.

“If you (TMC) draw the sword, I will draw the sword. If you draw the knife, I will draw the knife too. But if you come with folded hands, I will embrace you. BJP is a strong party now. We can counter the violence. Those who talk of forgiveness are cowards. We will settle every score with interest. I take this oath today in the name of Shyama Prasad Mookerjee,” said Ghosh.

“I invite all youths to give one year of their lives to usher in a change. This sacrifice is necessary,” said Ghosh, sending a message for the crucial 2021 polls.

Raising a storm on June 19, Ghosh tweeted a new slogan: “Badla o hobe, badal o hobe.” (There will be revenge as well as change). The slogan, which appears with Ghosh’s photo and a map of the state, has gone viral. It is a direct reply to Banerjee’s slogan before the historic 2011 polls in which she overthrew the 34-year-old Left govt. “Badla noi, badal chai” (We need change, not revenge) Banerjee had said.

“As industry minister in the Nehru government, a post he gave up in the interest of Bengal, Mookerjee dreamt of seeing an atmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat. The Congress, the Marxists and the TMC have turned Bengal into a state of migrant workers over the years. Even Hindi-speaking people who settled down generations ago because there were jobs have to look for work in other states. Infiltrators and Rohingyas are being used as vote banks by the TMC,” said Ghosh.

The TMC was quick to counter Ghosh.

“Ghosh does not believe in positive politics. On the occasion of Rath Yatra I pray to Lord Jagannath to bless Bengal BJP leaders with wisdom. People of Bengal never accepted violence and this was evident in the 1960s and 70’s,” said Tapas Roy, senior TMC leader and minister of state for parliamentary affairs.

The Congress and Left too condemned the propagation of violence.

“Ghosh talked of using violence for one year. If violence worked on this soil the 34-year-long Left rule would have continued. People did not use guns and bombs to oust the Marxists. They voted silently,” said Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra.

“Inefficient people make a lot of noise. The same violent elements who were seen beside Mamata Banerjee have now joined the BJP. This strategy will not work on people,” said Sujan Chakraborty, CPI(M) legislator and leader of the Left parties in the state Assembly.

Noted political analyst Amal Mukhopadhyay, a former principal of Presidency College (now a university), said Ghosh did not follow the facts in history.

“I know the life and activities of Mookerjee very closely. I have never seen him speaking of violence or supporting it anywhere, either in his writings or in his lectures. Though Mookerjee was not a Gandhian, he did not believe in applying violence. If someone says that Mookerjee has shown the way to take revenge with arms then I think he is mistaken,” said Mukhopadhyay.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP won 18 of the state’s 42 seats, marking the party’s highest ever growth in Bengal. Violence has marked all recent elections and the crucial Assembly elections in 2021 are unlikely to be an exception, political observers say.

The BJP has organized a series of virtual rallies to address people in different parts of the state between June 24 and July 2. These will be addressed by Union ministers including Nirmala Sitharaman and Ravi Shankar Prasad.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Tanmay Chatterjee has spent more than three decades covering regional and national politics, internal security, intelligence, defence and corruption. He also plans and edits special features on subjects ranging from elections to festivals.

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