Not Mamata, BJP will turn West Bengal into Sonar Bangla: Amit Shah in Kolkata

Addressing a decent gathering at Shaheed Minar Maidan, which is situated in downtown Kolkata, Shah, who made his first Kolkata visit since the recent violence in Delhi, said, "The Sonar Bangla will not be formed under Mamata Di. Bring the BJP to power and in five years, we will make the dream come true."

"The government of Mamata Di is not allowing PM Modi to develop West Bengal. You gave chances to Communists for two decades, and to Mamata Di for 10 years. Did they develop the state? No. Give us five years, we will turn Bengal into Sonar Bangla," he said.

Though the state will head to corporation and municipality elections sometime in April-May this year, ahead of the assembly polls in 2021, Shah made it clear on Sunday that his party's sole agenda is to uproot the TMC government which is led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Starting a campaign "Aar Noi Annay", which in English means "no more injustice", Shah said, "This campaign is the fight to defeat autocratic forces in Bengal. I want to tell every Bengali today that we won't accept any injustice anymore," claiming that the BJP will come to power in West Bengal with a 2/3rd majority.

Boasting on the unprecedented success of the BJP in West Bengal in the 2019 General Elections where the saffron party bagged 18 seats, the former BJP president said, "We weren't given permissions for political rallies and over 40 of our workers were killed. I want to ask CM Mamata Di - Have you been able to stop us by doing this? Do whatever you want. You stand exposed. The people of Bengal know your true face."

Shah hits out at Mamata over CAA

One thing which never misses Shah's rallies nowadays is the reference to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and Sunday was no exception.

Accusing Banerjee of denying citizenship to several marginalised castes, Shah in strong words said, "Mamata Di raised the issue of citizenship to refugees herself when she was in Opposition. When PM Modi brought the CAA, she is standing with the Congress and Communists in Opposition again."

"You want or not, we will implement CAA at any cost," the Home Minister added just few days after a deadly violence which took place over the CAA in Delhi.

Though the Home Minister came under the scanner for not being able to control the law and order in the national capital as 43 people were killed in the violence, Shah referred to the violence which had erupted in West Bengal following the enactment of the new contentious citizenship law, which aims to grant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi but not Muslim refugees who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh due to religious persecution before 2015.

"PM Modi brought CAA that gave millions of refugees citizenship here in Bengal. Mamata Di opposed it. There were riots in Bengal. Trains and railway stations were burnt," Shah said in the rally where he was felicitated by the BJP for passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in Parliament.

West Bengal is one of the states which have already passed an anti-CAA resolution in their respective assemblies.

Shah attacks Mamata's nephew over dynasty politics, corruption

Without taking the name of Banerjee's nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, Shah hit out at the dynasty politics and corruption.

"There will be no Shahzada (crown prince) in power in West Bengal. A hardworking person coming from grassroots will be the next Chief Minister," Shah said in a tone with which Prime Minister Modi used to attack Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ahead of 2014 General Elections.

"If BJP comes to power, no corrupt person, be it Shahzada or a local leader, will be spared. We know how to teach a lesson to people who create disturbances in people's lives," the BJP leader said.

(Image Credit: Avishek Mitra/IBNS)