The BJP adopted a political resolution on Sandeshkhali in its two-day national convention in Delhi that ended on Sunday, making it obvious that the party plans to use the issue against Trinamul in the Lok Sabha elections.
The resolution was adopted late on Saturday night when the party’s top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, party national president J.P. Nadda, all other Union ministers and party functionaries, were present.
More than 100 BJP members from Bengal attended the event.
The BJP said in the resolution: "A heart-wrenching incident has come to light from Sandeshkhali in Bengal. None of us had heard of such a barbaric and painful incident in independent India.... (which) not only tarnishes West Bengal but also... puts humanity to shame. The way the dignity of women was violated by their leaders and their party under the protection of a woman chief minister can definitely not be a sign of a civilised society.”
The unrest at Sandeshkhali featured prominently in the speeches of Nadda and Rajnath Singh.
"See what is happening in Sandeshkhali! The kind of atrocities against women is appalling. Their dignity is being compromised. I must congratulate our party workers for fighting this. Such incidents are a stain on civilised society and
should be strongly condemned," Singh said.
Shah didn’t mention Sandeshkhali directly but said: "In Bengal, our workers are targeted, they are murdered. Many have become physically challenged."
"There is no law and order in the state,” Shah added.
The interim chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Caste,
Arun Haldar, who recently visited Sandeshkhali, wrote to Droupadi Murmu recommending the President's rule in Bengal.
Reacting to the BJP's resolution, senior Trinamul leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said: “Before speaking about Sandeshkhali, let them first speak about Manipur. The entire country has also seen how wrestlers were physically harassed on the road. This (Sandeshkhali) is nothing but a political agenda. Our government has given a drop-box (for people's complaints) but there has not been a single complaint...."
