Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday iterated the promises made by the BJP for north Bengal which has 54 Assembly seats.
“North Bengal has been neglected by Communists as well as the Mamata Banerjee government. None of the governments in Bengal has taken any initiative for Rajbanshis, Gorkhas and other communities who live in the region. We have come up with a series of plans for north Bengal, which include formation of a separate development board for the region,” Shah told the media in Calcutta.
A number of promises pertaining to north Bengal were mentioned in the “Sankalpa Patra” or the BJP’s election manifesto which had been published by the Union home minister earlier.
On Friday, Shah spoke about the proposal to form a Narayani battalion (in the name of the royal troops of the erstwhile princely state of Cooch Behar) in the central armed police forces and a CAPF training centre in Cooch Behar. He reiterated that if voted to power, the BJP would install a statue of Panchanan Burma, a Rajbanshi reformer.
“We will also confer ST (Scheduled Tribe) status on 11 Gorkha communities and work for the improvement of the tea industry. A tea park and an IT hub would be set up in Siliguri,” said Shah.
Such emphasis by the Union home minister on the BJP’s plans for north Bengal shows the saffron camp is keen to retain its support base in the region.
“It is evident that Amit Shah, who is the key strategist of the BJP for the Bengal polls, would leave no stone unturned to grab power in Bengal. A few hours ahead of the fourth phase of the elections, he tried to stoke the sentiments of different communities as well as people associated with prominent economic sectors like tea,” said an observer.
Rajbanshis mainly live in the Cooch Behar district which will go to the polls on Saturday.
There are 14 Assembly seats in Alipurduar and Cooch Behar, two north Bengal districts where elections will be held on Saturday. In 2016, Trinamul had won 12 seats but in the 2019 general election, the BJP managed to secure lead in 12 Assembly segments.
Told about Shah’s comments, Alipurduar district Trinamul Congress president Mridul Goswami said: “People of the region are well aware that the BJP is famous for making lengthy promises which they never deliver on….. Mamata Banerjee, on the other hand, meets her commitments. The BJP leadership might give a try but this time, people will stand with us.”
