Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda on Thursday criticised the West Bengal government for observing a lockdown on August 5, the day of the foundation stone laying for Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, and accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of having an “anti-Hindu” mindset.
“We have to say with regret that on August 5 there was a lockdown in West Bengal, but on July 31, the day Bakra-Eid (Eid-ul- Adha) was observed, there was no lockdown…We are happy that there was no lockdown on July 31, but why impose a lockdown in West Bengal on August 5 ?” Mr. Nadda said.
The BJP president who was addressing the newly-appointed office bearers of the West Bengal BJP said that the incident reflected the “appeasement politics” and “anti-Hindu mindset” of the Trinamool Congress government. Mr. Nadda exhorted newly-elected State Secretariat members to take this message across to the people and remove the Trinamool Congress government in the 2021 Assembly polls. “This government does not work in the interest of the people. It is indulging in nothing but pure politics,” he said.
The BJP president touched on the issue of vandalism at Visva Bharati University on August 17. “Rabindranath Tagore’s legacy was tarnished by TMC-backed land mafia,” he alleged.
Mr. Nadda said Ms. Banerjee has deprived the people of West Bengal of the benefits of flagship Central schemes like Ayushman Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. He congratulated the State BJP leadership for providing foodgrains to the people in the COVID-19 crisis.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien, meanwhile, tweeted a point-by-point rebuttal of Mr. Nadda’s allegations, titled “FactCheck exposes speech on Bengal by BJP national president.”
Mr O’Brien, also the national spokesperson of the party, referred to schemes like Swasthya Sathi and Krishak Bandhu started by the government. According to him Swastha Sathi had benefited 7.5 crore people in West Bengal and the State government had issued 55 lakh Kisan Credit Cards bringing 90% of the farmers under the insurance scheme.
