BJP will stop Mamata Banerjee's appeasement politics in Bengal: Amit Shah

KOLKATA: This is an election for West Bengal’s “existence” and a struggle to bring “democracy back” in the state, BJP president Amit Shah has said, and accused the Mamata Banerjee government of choosing one particular community over the general masses.

Citing Banerjee’s state budget, Shah said close to Rs 4,000 crore was allocated for Madrasa education while the budget of entire higher education department is much lower than that. Also, the state government announced allowances for Muslim clerics, but ignored Hindu priests, Shah alleged at a public rally in Alipurduar on Thursday.

Alipurduar is a Parliamentary constituency in North Bengal, dominated by the tribal population. The rally was organised in support of BJP candidate, John Barla, a local tribal leader whose Adivasi Vikash Parshad controls most of the 80 tea gardens in the region.


“Appeasement has reached the heights in Bengal,” Shah alleged. “Mamata didi has a budget of Rs 4,000 crore for madrasas. We do not have a problem with that. But, the entire budget for higher education is lower than Rs 4,000 crore. For vote bank politics, Mamata didi is forcefully making Urdu compulsory in Islampur school in the name of Bengali culture. Our karyakartas who have opposed this were brutally killed.”

Shah claimed his party believed in inclusive growth and it did not have any issue with Banerjee’s government giving monthly allowances to Muslim clerics. “We only say that Hindu priests should not be ignored. Why this partiality?”

The constituency has witnessed an influx of infiltrators over the years, Shah alleged. “Didi is banking heavily on infiltrators. She often announces appeasement policies,” he alleged. “I assure you that the BJP government, if voted to power, will implement NRC process in Bengal. Each infiltrator will be identified and deported. But I also want to reassure the refugees. Our government will always protect the Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist refugees. We have already brought citizenship amendment bill.”