WB polls fight between Modi's "vikas" and Mamata's "vinash"

BrandingWest Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a ''failedadministrator'', Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday saidthe upcoming assembly elections in the state will be a contestbetween Narendra Modi's ''development model'' and her''destruction model'' of governance.

In West Bengal, where the BJP has launched a politicalblitzkrieg against the Mamata Banerjee government, he raked upthe issue of the TMC supremo's opposition to the CAA, andasserted the contentious citizenship law will be enforced oncethe process of COVID vaccination has ended.

Shah's whirlwind tour of West Bengal and Assam wasalso marked by a social outreach to the numerically strong andrestive Koch Ragbongshi and Matua communities whose concernshe sought to assuage.

Shah claimed large-scale infiltration into WestBengal's Coochbehar district, which shares border withBangladesh, has caused significant changes to its demography.

The upcoming assembly polls, he said, will be a fightbetween the ''Vikas (development) model of the Narendra Modigovernment and Mamata Banerjee's Vinash (destruction) model''.

The home minister, who flagged off the fourth of thefive 'Parivartan Yatra' of the BJP in Coochbehar ahead of theannouncement of the assembly elections, said the campaign isnot for changing a chief minister, MLA or minister but endinginfiltration and transforming West Bengal's condition.

Addressing a rally in the North Bengal town, he saidthe yatra is also aimed at ending corruption patronised by''Bua-Bhatija'' combine. The BJP has been accusing Banerjee andher nephew Abhishek, the Lok Sabha MP from Diamond Harbour, of''institutionalising corruption''.

Shah, who met Koch Rajbongshi leader Ananta Roy at hisresidence in Chirang district of Assam during a private visit,was claimed to have steered clear of the controversial CAA,but once in Bengal, he fulminated against Banerjee for heropposition to the new citizenship law and over Bangladeshiinfiltration.

''This 'Parivartan Yatra' is not for changing a CM, MLAor a minister. It is for ending infiltration, it is for endingviolence and building 'Sonar Bangla', it's for thetransformation of Bengal.

''You vote the BJP to power in Bengal. Leave aloneillegal immigrants, not even a bird from across the borderwill be allowed to enter the state,'' Shah said.

Addressing another rally in Thakurnagar, a strongholdof the Matua community, Shah said the process of grantingIndian citizenship to refugees under the CAA, including to theMatua community, will begin once the process of COVIDvaccination has ended.

Accusing the opposition parties of misleading theminorities about the Citizenship (amendment) Act, he said, itsimplementation will not impact the citizenship status ofIndian minorities.

Shah said the Modi government had in 2018 promised itwill bring in a new citizenship law and kept it when the BJPwas voted to power again in 2019.

He said, after the country was hit by the COVID-19pandemic in 2020, its implementation had to be kept inabeyance.

''Mamata didi said we made a false promise. She startedopposing the CAA and saying she will never allow it. The BJPalways fulfils the promises it makes. We have brought this lawand refugees will get citizenship.

''As soon as the COVID vaccination process ends theprocess of granting citizenship under CAA will begin. All ofyou will be respected citizens of this country,'' he said.

Matuas, originally from East Pakistan, are weakersection Hindus who migrated to India during the Partition andafter the creation of Bangladesh. Many of them have beenaccorded Indian citizenship but a sizeable section of thepopulation has not got it.

The Matua community, with an estimated population ofthree million in the state, can tilt the scales in favour of apolitical party in at least four Lok Sabha seats and more than30 assembly seats in Nadia, and North and South 24 Parganasdistricts. It once stood solidly behind the TMC but hadsupported the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

West Bengal has a 294-member assembly.

A section of state BJP leadership is apprehensive thatthe delay and confusion over the implementation of the CAAcould make them turn against the saffron party.

Banerjee reacted angrily to Shah's assertions.

''The home minister of the country should be carefulabout his utterances. We will never allow CAA, NRC or NPR inBengal. They can say whatever they want to. They want todestroy Bengal. We will never allow them to do that,'' sheasserted.

Courting the Matua community, Shah said if voted topower, the BJP government will propose renaming theThaukurnagar railway station 'Shri Dham Thakurnagar' after SriSri Harichand Thakur, their socio-religious guru.

Reaching out to the Koch Rajbonshi community in NorthBengal's Coochbehar, Shah announced a new 'Narayani SenaBattalion' in central paramilitary forces and said itstraining centre will be named after 'veer' (brave) Chila Roy(a prince and younger brother of King Nara Narayan of KochDynasty).

He said a tourist circuit and Thakur PanchananMemorial Centre will also be set up. Panchanan Burma is anicon of the community.

Shah also wondered why the chants of 'Jai Shri Ram'angered Banerjee.

''Such an environment has been created in Bengal thatraising Jai Shri Ram slogan has become a crime. Why does sheget angry after hearing Jai Shri Ram? Mamata Didi, if Jai ShriRam is not chanted here, will it be chanted in Pakistan?'' hesaid.

''You get angry over it because you want to appease aparticular section of people for vote bank politics. I amtelling you (people) that by the time election ends Mamatadidi will also start chanting Jai Shri Ram,'' he said, mockingBanerjee.

Lashing out at ''dynasty politics'' in the TMC, Shahalleged that Banerjee has been working only for the welfare ofher nephew instead of the masses.

''The Modi government works for 'jan kalyan' (publicwelfare), while the Mamata Banerjee dispensation is botheredonly about 'bhatija kalyan' (nephew's welfare). Her onlyagenda is to make her nephew the chief minister,'' he said.

Ananta Roy, the chief of Greater Coochbehar Peoples'Association (GCPA) who calls himself a descendant of theerstwhile royal family of Coochbehar, said Shah assured him ofa ''package'' for Koch Rajbongshis after the elections.

Asked if talks were held on the contentious NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) exercise and the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA), Roy said no such matter was discussed asthe Union home ministry has already declared the Koch-Rajbongshis as ''aboriginals''.

''We belong to this land... so how can we be outsiders?Besides, we have been declared aboriginals by the homeministry,'' he said.

The Koch-Rajbongshis along with five other communitiesin Assam has long been demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

''All our pending demands were discussed at themeeting, and now I can only say that good days are ahead forthe Koch-Rajbongshi community,'' Roy said.