Mamata going soft on infiltration, pursuing appeasement politics: Nadda

Raghunathpur/Bishnupur (WB), May 15 (PTI) Accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of compromising on the issue of infiltration and appeasing minorities, BJP chief J P Nadda on Wednesday said during the decade-long reign of the TMC in the state, one scandal after another has plagued West Bengal.

Speaking at an election rally in support of the party's Purulia candidate Jyotirmoy Mahato, Nadda said while the fragmented INDIA bloc parties were rooting for a 'majboor' (weak) government at the Centre to fulfill their selfish motives, people of West Bengal have already made their choice clear for a 'majboot' (strong) government.

Nadda also accused Banerjee of converting Bengal into a haven for terrorists.

"Mamata Didi's government is going soft on the issue of infiltration besides pursuing the policy of minority appeasement," Nadda said.

On alleged corruption charges against the TMC, he remarked, "From scandals in teacher recruitment to clerk appointment fraud, from coal and cattle smuggling to the arrests of her party leaders and ministers for various scams, Mamata Didi's tenure has unfortunately become synonymous with corruption and terror." He said under Banerjee's rule, incidents like Sandeshkhali took place which brought shame to the whole nation. "Unfortunately she is still trying to shield the abusers of women of Sandeshkhali. Do the people of Bengal want such a ruler?," Nadda asked the crowd.

At the second rally in Bisnupur in support of BJP candidate Soumitra Khan, Nadda said, "Recovery of bombs and weapons at the residences of TMC leaders like Shahjahan Sheikh shows how all these things happened under the glare of Mamata Banerjee and she did not utter a single word." He said while six crore people of are getting rice for Rs 5 per kg and 1 kg daal under the PDS scheme in the state, the Mamata Banerjee regime has earned the nickname of 'chaul chor' (rice thief).

"Chaul bheje Modi, chori kore Didi (Modi sends rice, Didi steals grains)," he said, recalling the arrest of former West Bengal minister Jyotipriyo Mallick in the PDS scam.

Accusing the TMC government of siphoning off PM Awas Yojana funds from the Centre and renaming it as 'Bangla Awas Yojana', Nadda said the Modi government had built 52 lakh homes for the poor despite efforts by the TMC to derail the social welfare project.

Accusing the previous Congress government at the Centre of pursuing vote bank politics, he said, "The Congress pitted one community against the other just for votes." Nadda said the TMC chief has been preventing farmers in the state from benefiting from the 'Kishan Nidhi' project for three years and deprived people from accessing the 'Ayushman Bharat' scheme for years.

"Modi ended the era of religion-based politics and appeasement and started a new kind of governance, hinged on performance and accountability," he added.

Nadda asserted that while the economies of the US, Britain, Japan, and China are experiencing decline, India, under Modi's leadership, has ascended to a position among the top five in global rankings.

Referring to the challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic, he highlighted that the PM wasted no time in establishing a task force on April 20, 2020 and credited Modi's swift action for enabling the vaccination of people across the country. PTI