Communities must unite and isolate BJP, Didi says in Purulia

Purulia: All communities must come together and isolate BJP over its attempt to drive out “citizens” from the country, Mamata Banerjee urged in an exhortation issued from Purulia town, a BJP stronghold, on Monday, the day after a mahagathbandhan chief minister was sworn in in neighbouring Jharkhand.
“People of Jharkhand have driven out BJP,” the Bengal chief minister said in a reference to JMM leader Hemant Soren’s swearing-in as CM, the event in Ranchi turning out to be a show of opposition unity.
“I have come to know that the Kerala government, like Bengal, has stayed NPR. A whole lot of states have already announced their stand against CAA-NRC,” she continued. “Students have been leading anti-CAA-NRC agitations across the country. They have come under threat from the government,” Banerjee said in a bid to reassure people that the entire country was with them.
The Trinamool chief was clearly once again trying to bind together the countrywide citizens’ protests against BJP, an effort she had made earlier by rallying opposition leaders at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Grounds in January 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Banerjee this time focussed on communities instead of leaders and their parties.
“This is a movement for our own existence, a movement for our address, land rights for adivasis and a roof for Muslims. The Muslims feel scared. Even Hindus are not safe under BJP rule,” Banerjee said.
“On the contrary, Bengal is home to all communities, all languages, castes and creed. Here adivasis, scheduled castes, Kudmis, Rajbanshis, Biharis, Rajasthanis and Bengalis live in peace,” she said, days after BJP working president J P Nadda in a pro-CAA rally in Kolkata criticised Banerjee’s opposition to the amended citizenship law and a host of “pro-poor central projects” and dubbed her anti-Dalit.
On Monday, Trinamool leaders took care to rally a considerable number of adivasis.
Banerjee led the anti-CAA-NRC ‘padayatra’ for a 7km stretch from Victoria Institution More in Purulia town to the Taxi Stand.