The Left rule was better than the Mamata Banerjee-led regime in West Bengal, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, targeting the Trinamool over alleged illegal migration and cow smuggling. The BJP must win in Bengal to put an end to these, he said at a closed-door meeting of party leaders in Kolkata. The visuals of his speech were later shared by the party.
"The Communist rule in Bengal was better than Didi's rule. That's what people are saying here," he said, referring to the 34 years of CPI(M) government in West Bengal from 1977-2011.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's supporters fondly call her 'didi' (meaning sister), a moniker widely used in the country's political circles to refer to her.
Mr Shah also asserted that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a commitment of the BJP to the nation and it will be implemented. "Mamata didi tries to confuse people the new citizenship law, but it will still be implemented as it is the law of the land," he said.
The CAA, which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities like Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, was passed by the Parliament in 2019.
Ms Banerjee's Trinamool has been opposing the CAA and Bengal BJP leaders believe it is a major factor that helped the party's rise in the state.
The Lok Sabha elections are due in a few months and the BJP is eyeing major gains in Bengal, the homestate of the Trinamool. Mr Shah has expressed confidence that the party will win over 35 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal this time.
"We have to work to form a BJP government in West Bengal after the next assembly polls. A BJP government will mean the end of infiltration, cow smuggling and providing citizenship to religiously persecuted people through CAA," he said at the party programme.
The BJP had won a significant 18 seats in the 2019 elections and is seeking to outperform itself to deliver a jolt to the Trinamool ahead of 2026 state elections.
The party said that this time social media is going to be the main platform to reach out to the voters.
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