Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren joined the high octane Bengal election campaign on Wednesday, holding three back-to-back rallies in tribal dominated assembly segments along the Jharkhand-Bengal border and throwing his weight behind Mamata Banerjee and her party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), to woo adivasi voters.
Calling the main challenger, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as a clone of the erstwhile East India Company, Hemant warned voters in Bandwan constituency not to fall prey to its "double-engine googly, a reference to governments headed by same parties at the state and Centre.
“Be very cautious when they (BJP) try to convince you seeking your votes in the name of installing double-engine government Double-engine, for them, means looting with both hands. The state (Jharkhand) which is just next to yours suffered a lot because of this as a result of which people threw them (BJP) out of power in the 2019 assembly elections.
“BJP’s double engine government in our state robbed farmers, Dalits, and the poor. During their double-engine regime, our state witnessed a slew of mob lynchings because of BJP’s divisive politics. Don’t allow that to happen in Bengal,” he said, referring to the saffron party as a clone of the erstwhile East India Company.
Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren at a rally in Bandwan constituency in Bengal with Trinamul Congress candidates on Wednesday. Telegraph picture
“Have you ever wondered how. while the country and its people are increasingly becoming poor, the BJP is getting rich? How did it suddenly amass so much money to be able to build multi-crore party offices everywhere? It is because of the systematic loot and selling of all the country’s assets, just like the East India Company had done once. BJP is a clone of East India Company, whose only agenda is to pit people of the country, state, tola against each other to divide, rule and loot," he said.
Hemant siad the drive to "flush out the BJP" began from Jharkhand in 2019, and that now, it was the turn of Bengal. "This election is going to be historic in many ways and it's time for each one of you to be a part of that history and keep communal forces out of your state. They think Didi is alone and they can harass her using money and muscle power to win the election. Show them that they are wrong,” he roared, adding that tribals — be it in Jharkhand or Bengal _ were fighters who knew how to fight for their rights.
Bandwan constituency was Hemant's second stop of the day. He began his Bengal campaign from Manbazar constituency. His last rally of the day was at Taldangra constituency after which he flew back to Jharkhand.
TMC has fielded Sandhya Rani Tudu in Manbazar, Rajiv Soren in Bandwan and Arup Chakraborty in Taldangra. Voting in Bengal will be spread over eight phases starting on Saturday, March 27.
Hemant's party, the JMM, which had earlier said that it would contest in about two dozen seats in Bengal, backed out later on Mamata's request. While the JMM is in alliance with Congress and RJD in Jharkhand, it agreed to extend support to the TMC in Bengal. But it will back the Congress in Assam.
