Biswabrata Goswami
JHARGRAM, 15 MARCH: Union Home Minister Amit Shah could not attend the slated election rally scheduled to hold at the tribal heartland, Jhargram in Junglemahal at 11 am today after his helicopter developed a technical snag.
At around 1 pm, Shah finally addressed the rally virtually and promised that he would meet the Jhargram people before the end of the election campaign.
“I was going to come here for campaign. Unfortunately, my helicopter was damaged and I couldn’t come to see you. West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and our in charge, Kailash Vijayvargiya are also present with me. But, I assure you, I will meet you before the end of the election campaign”, Shah said while addressing the rally in Jhargram via video from Kharagpur. Though, Shah’s address went for about barely seven minutes, he, however, did not leave any stone to criticize Mamata Banerjee. “My helicopter developed a snag but I won’t call it a conspiracy,” he added in an apparent dig at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who alleged last week that her leg was crushed by the door of her SUV when a crowd pressed into it in Nandigram, and called it an “attack”.
The Trinamul Congress leaders, on the other hand, posted images of what it called thin crowds and empty chairs at the Jhargram rally site, which it said prompted the last-minute change of plans. They claimed the ‘snag’ was really a case of poor turnout.
Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who was in Dantan to address an election rally in West Midnapore, also hurled attack soon after Shah’s comment and said, “Those who attend rallies in the afternoon in this heat, they don’t come to hear speeches. The home minister had a rally in Jhargram, he could not reach his meeting due to a technical snag. But the images I have seen from the rally where BJP national leaders are coming … local tea stalls in villages have more crowds than their rallies”.
Banerjee, who has been repeatedly targeted by the BJP over nepotism, also said Jhargram was easily reachable by road.
When asked Mr Konar Hembram, a BJP MP from Jhargram, however, said, “At 11 am, there were few supporters in the rally ground. But, within an hour, a huge crowd gathered in the rally ground. Many workers and supporters came from far flung areas and because of this reason they reached late.”
The Trinamul Congress also sent photos from Mamata Banerjee’s rally in Purulia with the caption: “Crowd that doesn’t suffer ‘Technical Snag’. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomed by a sea of crowd in Purulia’s Baghmundi.”
While addressing the rally on virtual mode, Shah from Kharagpur said “Bengal was at one time India’s leader. It was the hub of education, freedom fighters, religious leadership and more. The same Bengal is entangled in goondaraj.”
He further said that the TMC government has taken Bengal to new lows in the last 10 years. “Corruption, political violence, polarisation, Hindus and SC/STs had to go to courts for celebrating their festivals – this is the sort of situation they have brought to the state, ruining development in the state,” Shah said.
After forming the government in West Bengal, he said: “When BJP comes to power, we will build the Pandit Raghunath Murmu Tribal University, in Jhargram for improving opportunities for tribal students.”
“We will be providing 50 per cent financial assistance to students from tribal communities scoring above 70 per cent, in the class 12 exam, for higher education,” he said.
“Under the Stand Up India Scheme, the forthcoming West Bengal govt will allocate Rs 1000 crores to help the tribal community become Atmanirbhar,” the Home Minister added.
