Nadda flags BJP's 'Rath Yatra' sans police nod, slams Mamata for aversion to 'Jai Shri Ram'

Thumbing his nose at the West Bengal government, a defiant BJP president J P NaddaSaturday flagged off his party's 'Parivartan Yatra' in WestBengal without police permission and asserted the people have decided to say ''ta-ta'' to the Mamata Banerjee government in the assembly elections.

He also accused the TMC government of politicising the administration, criminalising police and institutionalising corruption.

''Jai Shri Ram!'' slogans greeted the leader wherever he went during his day-long trip to the election-bound state, andNadda used it to the hilt to link it to India's cultural identity and attack Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

With the BJP and the Modi government under attack from an unsparing opposition over the anti-farm law stir, he ate the humble khichdi seated on the floor with farmers and castigated Banerjee for depriving them of the benefits of the PM Kisan Scheme for over two years just to ''satisfy her ego''.

Claiming that the TMC's slogan of ''Maa, Mati, Manush''(mother, motherland and people) has been reduced to dictatorship, tolabaji (extortion) and (Muslim) appeasement,'' Nadda said the state's ruling dispensation betrayed the trust people had reposed in it.

Addressing a rally before flagging off the 'Rath Yatra'at Nabadwip, the birthplace of Bengal's 15th-century iconic saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he alleged only the ruling TMC leaders benefited under Mamata Banerjee and even funds meant for relief in the aftermath of cyclone Amphan and the COVID-19crisis were misappropriated by them.

Police in Nadia district, where Nabadwip is located, said permission was granted only for Nadda's public rally and not the Rath Yatra as a PIL was pending with the Calcutta high court against it.

''We have provided no objection for the public rally ofJ P Nadda. But no permission has been given for the so-called Ratha Yatra as the matter is sub-judice,'' a senior police official said.

The PIL filed on Wednesday has sought the court intervention to stop the Rath Yatra, claiming it will adversely impact the COVID-19 situation and law and order.

While speaking at the public rally in Nabadwip and also during his address to farmers in Malda, Nadda raked up the issue of Banerjee's anger over chants of 'Jai Shri Ram',which he linked to the country's culture.

''Why does she hate 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan so much? Isit wrong to connect with the culture of one's own country?They (the TMC) want to negate the country's culture for thesake of vote-bank politics,'' he said.

Banerjee had declined to speak at the event tocelebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary where'Jai Shri Ram' slogans were raised in the presence of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi at Kolkata's Victoria Memorial onJanuary 23.

Nadda claimed the ruling TMC remembered the iconicfreedom fighter from Bengal only after Modi began recallinghis contributions glowingly.

''You (Mamata) had forgotten Subhas Chandra Bose theseyears. You were in the Congress but did nothing to celebratehis legacy,'' he said.

Nadda alleged TMC functionaries ''stole and ate up funds provided by the Centre for relief during the cyclone andCOVID-19 pandemic.

''Central funds were usurped by TMC leaders. Foodgrainsand even tarpaulin sheets were stolen and recovered from thehouses of TMC functionaries.

''When the high court asked you to get the reliefaccounts audited by the CAG, you moved the Supreme Courtagainst the order. Instead of standing for honesty andtransparency, you sought to shield corruption,'' the BJP leaderalleged.

Talking about the insider-outsider debate started byBanerjee in the run up to the assembly elections likely inApril-May, the BJP chief said the state leadership of hisparty will protect the culture of West Bengal and steer it toprogress.

''The Mamata Banerjee government has politicisedadministration, criminalised police and institutionalisedcorruption,'' he alleged.

Nadda later flagged off an improvised 'Rath' as partof the BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' to bring about a change ''notonly of government but also the thought process'' in Nabadwip.

The BJP chief said Union Home Minister Amit Shah willinaugurate two of the other four 'Rath Yatra' slated laterthis month. These yatras, according to BJP sources, willcrisscross all 294 assembly constituencies.

Earlier in the day, Nadda unleashed a charm offensiveas he courted farmers in Malda, over a thousand kilometersaway from the restive borders of the national capital wherepeasants are protesting for the repeal of three farm lawsenacted by the Modi government.

On a day when farmer unions organised a 'chakka jam'in support of their demand, Nadda was wooing agriculturistswith promises of welfare and sharing lunch with them at acommunity feast.

He mocked Banerjee, one of the prominent voicesagainst the new farm laws, for belatedly agreeing to implementthe PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana.

The BJP leader said she did so only after realisingthat her party was fast losing ground among the farmers in thestate.

''What Mamatadi did to the farmers of Bengal bydepriving them of the benefits of PM Kisan Scheme was aninjustice. Due to her whims and to satisfy her ego, Mamata jidid not allow the scheme to be implemented in the state. Thishas affected over 70 lakh farmers who for the last two yearshave been deprived of annual aid of Rs 6,000,'' he said.

Nadda was addressing a rally of farmers during thelast phase of the month-long 'Krishak Suraksha Abhiyan' and'Ek Mutthi Chawal' campaign which he had flagged off in orderto mobilise the farming community in the state in favour ofthe BJP.

The programmes were also a part of BJP's outreach tofarmers to blunt the opposition's charge that the ruling partyand the Modi government were ''anti-farmer'' following farmprotests at Delhi's border points.

Nadda said the prime minister recently inaugurated the100th Kisan Rail, an initiative that will help farmerstransport their produce anywhere in the country with greatease. Lauding the Modi government for its pro-farmer policies,the BJP leader said, it ensured that they got 1.5 times morethan the input cost for their produce under the MSP regime.

''Today, after about 25 lakh farmers of Bengal sentapplications for securing the benefits of PM Kisan SammanNidhi scheme to the central government, Mamata ji is sayingshe will implement it. Mamata ji, elections are round thecorner. Now, it's too late,'' he said, castigating the chiefminister.

Nadda said the state's people have made up their mindto bid ''namaste and ta-ta'' to Banerjee and her party after theassembly polls.

Amid chants of ''Jai Shri Ram'', Nadda also led a roadshow in Malda.

Standing atop a decorated lorry with Dilip Ghosh andothers, he showered jubilant supporters with marigold petalsand waved to enthusiastic crowds that gathered along the 1 kmstretch between Foara More and Guru Rabindranath Tagore'sstatue.

People watched the procession from rooftops andbalconies and were seen shooting videos with their mobilephones.

The streets were lined with BJP's flags and buntingsas the cavalcade inched its way through the narrow and crowdedstreets.