Congress leader Rahul Gandhi went all out against the saffron camp in his first campaign outing in the Assembly elections in Bengal on Wednesday for his party nominees from the districts of Darjeeling and North Dinajpur.
“We should not allow the BJP to come to power in this state. Wherever the BJP and the RSS go, they indulge in divisive politics. They spread hatred and create rifts among people… it is in their DNA,” said the Congress leader.
Rahul addressed public rallies in Goalpokhor (North Dinajpur district) and in Shivmandir, on the outskirts of Siliguri (Darjeeling district).
“The BJP will try to stoke fires in the state. None from the BJP would be affected by it…. it is the people of Bengal who will suffer,” he said.
Though Rahul also attacked Trinamul, his verbal volleys at the ruling party in Bengal were more mellow in nature.
“The Congress always works with its own ideology and never compromises with it. We have ideological differences with the BJP and the RSS and never ever will we make any understanding with them. But it was Trinamul that had forged an alliance with the BJP,” said Rahul, reminding his audience that Mamata’s party had been a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) earlier.
He also blamed the Mamata Banerjee government for unemployment in Bengal and highlighted the migration of youths from here to other states.
“The youths in Bengal know well that they won’t get any job here in the state. That is why they are compelled to leave Bengal. This is one of the major issues which Trinamul has failed to address here, despite being in government (for a decade),” the Congress leader said.
While speaking at a poll rally in Shivmandir, Rahul also addressed the Gorkha population of north Bengal and reminded them that despite electing BJP MPs thrice since 2009, their principal demand (of a permanent political solution for the hills) had not yet been met.
“They (the Gorkhas) have elected BJP candidates from Darjeeling seat successively for three times. But their problems remain the same,” Rahul said.
Sankar Malakar, the sitting MLA of the Congress in the Matigara-Naxalbari seat, later said that he would secure support of the Gorkhas in his constituency.
“They (people of the Gorkha community) are well aware that it is the Congress party that has resolved the hill problem… not once but twice. Back in the 1980s, (then Prime Minister) Rajiv Gandhi was instrumental in forming the DGHC (Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council) and again, in 2012, it was the Manmohan Singh government that had expedited the creation of the GTA (Gorkhaland Territorial Administration). The BJP has made several promises but has delivered nothing,” Malakar said.
Trinamul leaders, commenting on Rahul’s comments on their party, said that that he lacked information about present-day Bengal.
“People are well aware that it is not the Congress but Trinamul that has been fighting against the BJP. He (Rahul Gandhi) seems to be unaware of the developments that have taken place in Bengal during past 10 years,” said a senior Trinamul leader.
