Bharatiya Janata Party President JP Nadda on Saturday said that the people of West Bengal have decided to bid Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee “goodbye” in the upcoming Assembly elections of the state. Nadda was speaking at a public rally in Sahapur village in Malda district as part of the party’s “Krishak Suraksha Abhiyan”, a campaign aimed at farmers in the state.
“Mamataji, the people of West Bengal have decided to say you tata, goodbye, namaste, in the elections,” Nadda said.
Pointing out that Banerjee did not allow the Centre’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, or PM-KISAN scheme, in the state, Nadda accused her of depriving the farmers, PTI reported.
“What Mamata did with farmers of [West] Bengal by depriving them of PM-Kisan Scheme benefits was an injustice,” he said. “She did not allow the implementation of the welfare programme in the state to satisfy her ego. Seventy lakh farmers for the last two years have been deprived of annual aid of Rs 6,000.”
The PM-Kisan scheme, launched by the Narendra Modi government ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, provides income support worth Rs 6,000 annually to farmers.
The BJP chief also took a dig at Banerjee, referring to an incident last month, where the West Bengal chief minister declined to speak at an event to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary, after people raised slogans of “Jai Shri Ram”.
“While coming here, I was greeted with Jai Shri Ram slogans,” Nadda said. “But I don’t understand why Mamata didi gets angry on hearing it.”
Nadda also held a roadshow and had lunch with farmers along with other party leaders in Malda.
Later on Saturday, Nadda is scheduled to flag off a statewide “Parivartan Yatra” in Nadia district. However, there was some confusion about whether the BJP has permission to hold the event. Officials said the administration granted permission for a public meeting at Nabadwip, but there was still no go-ahead for the “Parivartan Yatra”. The police also said they had allowed Nadda’s programme, but there was no permission for the rally. The BJP leadership, however, said they will go ahead with the event.
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