This story is from April 19, 2021

Common man won’t be ‘second-grade’ citizen in Bengal after May 2, says Shah

Common man won’t be ‘second-grade’ citizen in Bengal after May 2, says Shah
Purbasthali Uttar/Swarupnagar: Union home minister Amit Shah promised that a BJP government would help the common man in Bengal — treated as “second grade” citizens due to “vote-bank politics” under the Trinamool Congress regime — lead a normal life after May 2.
“In Didi’s (Mamata Banerjee) regime, people have to move court for Durga idol immersion. Students in schools can’t perform Saraswati Puja because Didi thinks that might go against her vote-bank politics.
We are treated like second-grade citizens,” Shah said on Sunday as Bengal polls entered the sixth phase covering 43 constituencies, most of which are Indo-Bangla border seats spread across North 24 Parganas, Nadia and Uttar Dinajpur.
The Union minister raised the polarization pitch in Purbasthali Uttar in East Burdwan, listing three categories of people in Bengal unlike the rest of the country. “The first kind is infiltrators. The second kind is common people, who are treated like second-grade citizens. And third are refugees such as Matuas and Namasudras, who haven’t got citizenship for nearly 70 years and are unable to lead a decent life. Come May 2, the BJP government will do away with these categories,” he said.
Shah added that BJP and not others — Trinamool, Congress, Communists — could stop infiltration, and iterated his party’s commitment to grant citizenship to refugees, particularly Matuas and Namasudras.
The Union minister also assured a shift from “Didi’s bomb-banduk-barud model” to the Modi model of “vishwas-vyapar-vikas”. “We want to change this and bring governance of development, trust and industry. The politics of violence will not continue in Bengal,” he said.
In an attempt to split the Dalit-Namasudra-Muslim support for the Bengal chief minister in the 2011 and 2016 assembly polls, Shah pointed to the derogatory comment Trinamool’s Sujata Mandal had made against scheduled castes. He said: “How could a Trinamool leader insult a community, calling them beggars? Why is Didi silent?”

Shah also referred to the leaked audio tape recording a purported conversation between the CM and a Trinamool leader, to say how a person of her stature could stoop to such a low. “Didi is asking to keep bodies of the dead in the unfortunate incident and hold rally the next day with the dead,” he said.
The BJP senior said Banerjee was “perturbed” after fifth-phase polling and was abusing the PM, HM (home minister) and security forces. “She keeps on saying that we are outsiders. I have come here to help you vote out Didi. I am not going to stay back and rule Bengal.” Shah said.
The Union minister claimed his party had bagged 122 seats after five phases and was on its way to victory. “Nandigram has bid farewell to Didi. Now, entire Bengal will do that,” he said.
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