Farmers Movement Archive

Nadda: Roadshow is a hint to BJP poll sweep

Burdwan: BJP national president J P Nadda got a warm welcome in West Bengal’s rice bowl and former Red citadel Burdwan a month into the attack on his convoy in South 24 Parganas on December 9. Buoyed by the turnout in Burdwan town, similar to Union home minister Amit Shah’s roadshow in Bolpur, Nadda announced that people in Bengal had made up their mind to bid farewell to the Mamata Banerjee government in the 2021 assembly polls. “The huge turnout at the roadshow and the enthusiasm among the crowd today bear out that BJP is going to sweep Bengal elections. I saw the wave today, it will turn into a tsunami soon. BJP will get more than 200 seats,” Nadda said. Before joining the Burdwan roadshow, the BJP president launched Krishak Suraksha Abhiyan at Musthuli village in Burdwan’s Katwa in defence of the Centre’s farm laws when farmers were agitating at the Singhu border near Delhi, with the Centre yet to break the stalemate after eight rounds of talks. The scene in Musthuli, in Katwa II block, threw up a contrast when Nadda visited four farmer families on foot, picking up a handful of paddy from each household and pasted stickers of Krishak Suraksha Abhiyan. At a rally in Jagadananda village earlier in the day, the BJP president said: “As many as 26 lakh farmers from Bengal had self-registered for Kisan Samman Nidhi. None of them got the benefits because Mamata Banerjee didn’t allow it.” “Now, when we have launched the programme of reaching out to 40,000 gram sabhas, the CM writes to the PM that she will allow the scheme in the state,” he added. The BJP president pegged his narrative on three points — tolabaji, tushtikaran and cut money — and held that these do not represent Bengal’s culture. “Bengal has a rich heritage and culture. Does it match with cut money that has become the buzzword now? Does the CM’s remark on the PM go well with Bengali culture? Did Bengal come across chal chors, tripal chors earlier? Is it Bengal’s culture to throw stones at the convoy of an opposition leader?” he said. The BJP president then cited figures to show how Bengal had fared during the Trinamool regime. “Bengal stands 24th in agricultural income. I saw the plight of farmers when I visited the villages today. And Mamata Banerjee has been claiming that income has grown by 200%,” he said. Nadda announced that BJP would implement Kisan Samman Nidhi and Ayushman Bharat in Bengal soon after it is voted to office. On the law and order situation in the state, the BJP chief said: “You will recall that I offered tarpan at Bagbazar ghat for 100 BJP workers killed up to that time. Now the list of BJP victims has jumped to 300.”

The Times of India

2021-01-10

Kolkata