Amit Shah invades Mamata’s bastion in Bhawanipore

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, April 26

The BJP’s plan to challenge Mamata Banerjee in her backyard turned out to be a success with the meeting addressed by Amit Shah on Wednesday in Bhawanipore assembly constituency of the Chief Minister attracting good response.

The booth-level meeting addressed by Shah at the Chetla Lock Gate area under Bhawanipore saw the presence of a good crowd whose spontaneity was evident as they cheered Shah each time he made a major point in the course of the speech delivered by him at the meeting.

“Mamata Banerjee believes in appeasement”, Shah said, hinting at the charge against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of extending various favours to Muslims. Shah added that BJP on the other hand believes in development for everyone across the board.

Shah claimed that under the Trinamool Congress government, corruption, atrocities and violence had become rampant in West Bengal. However, by resorting to dirty politics, Banerjee is only paving the way for blossoming of the lotus (BJP’s symbol) in Bengal, Shah said.

It is the duty of the BJP to liberate Bengal from the curses of corruption, violence and atrocities, Shah said and appealed to the crowd to vote for the BJP when Lok Sabha elections are held in 2019.

“When Modiji’s chariot, vanquishing various foes on its way, reaches Bengal in 2019, the BJP functionaries here will ensure that BJP secures the biggest victory from West Bengal”, Shah said.

Young Manas Mandal, a college student who is president of BJP’s booth no. 269 (under which the Lock Gate area falls), stood beside Shah as he spoke. Union minister of state for heavy industries Babul Supriyo, BJP Rajya Sabha member Roopa Ganguly, West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh were among those present with Shah.

After the meeting, Shah and his party colleagues from the state unit, walked down to the Railway Sliding Slum close by and visited some houses and ate fruits and sweets offered to him by the residents.

Earlier in the day, Shah addressed a press conference at the Press Club here. There, he said action was being taken against cow vigilantes and the party would not allow anyone to take the law into their own hands. 

Asked whether the BJP would ban cow slaughter if it came to power in West Bengal, Shah said this issue would be decided by the elected government.

Shah landed in Siliguri yesterday kicking-off BJP’s expansion drive from West Bengal. He is slated to leave Kolkata tomorrow and go to Orissa and from there to Telengana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Thus, he will visit five states in a span of 15 days.

He will spend three days in each of these states in a bid to strengthen the party in these areas where the party has been weak traditionally.