Will address crowds from a chopper if stopped, BJP chief tells Mamata

KOUSIK SEN, TT, 22 January 2019, Nityanandapur (Malda): BJP chief Amit Shah blew the Lok Sabha poll bugle in Bengal on Tuesday at a rally in Malda, reeling off promises and playing up polarising issues like the citizen bill.

In his first rally in Bengal after chief minister Mamata Banerjee's "United India" rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds in Calcutta last Saturday, Shah brought up a slew of Bengal-specific issues and vowed changes while urging supporters to work for "the lotus to bloom" in the state.

"In Gujarat, there is no syndicate tax but in Didi's Bengal, you all have to pay syndicate tax… Bring us to power and we will ensure such tax is not taken, like there is none in the 16 BJP-ruled states," Shah told the audience of around 1.5 lakh. Syndicates are construction material cartels, allegedly backed by Trinamul leaders.

In an attempt to make Citizenship (Amendment) Bill a poll plank in Bengal, Shah said if the BJP is voted to power in the state, all Hindu refugees will get citizenship, infiltration from Bangladesh will be checked and "not a single cow" would be smuggled to the other side.

"While the UPA government had given Rs 1.32 lakh crore under the 13th Finance Commission to Bengal, Narendra Modiji has given Rs 3.55 lakh crore under the 14th Finance Commission. But the benefit of it is not reaching the public as half of the money is taken away by Trinamul and the remaining by Bangladeshi infiltrators," said Shah.

Shah derided the proposed "Mahagathbandhan" of the Opposition seen at last week's Brigade rally as one of "greed and lust", with many prime ministerial aspirants. "Out of the 23 who addressed the Brigade rally, nine are potential prime ministerial candidates. But we have only one. The rock, Narendra Modi." Highlighting the plight of Bengal's manufacturing, Shah said once the state had 27 per cent of such units in the nation. "But now, it has fallen to only 3 per cent. All factories are getting closed, except for the bomb and ammunition factories, which are flourishing under the Trinamul regime," he said.

He warned Mamata's government that unlike the panchayat polls -- overseen by the Bengal poll panel -- the Election Commission of India would conduct the Lok Sabha elections. "My appeal to voters of Bengal is to remove fear from their minds, as this election would be very different from the violent panchayat polls." Accusing the Trinamul government of trying to stop the BJP's yatra programme and even his public meetings through denial of permission for his helicopter landing, Shah said they were not going to be deterred.

"Didi, we are not going to stop... If you do not allow me to land, I will address the crowd from the helicopter. You are free to file as many cases as you wish against me," the BJP chief said.

Reacting to Shah's rally, Trinamul said the BJP was "obviously nervous". "After listening to the BJP president's speech in Malda, it is obvious that they are very nervous. They know their days are numbered. They are politically scared. Their speeches are low on facts and poor in taste.

Shah addresses the meeting in Malda on Tuesday; the crowd (bottom) at the rally. Pictures by Kousik Sen They don't understand the ethos of India. They don't understand the ethos of Bengal. They are heading towards a big zero," said Trinamul's leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien.

"Some are saying they are desperate. Some are saying they have gone mad. Or is it a combination of both?" he asked.

After the programme, Shah left for New Delhi. BJP state unit chief Dilip Ghosh said Shah would not be able to address the rally at Jhargram on Wednesday, as physicians have advised rest..