Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday released the party’s election manifesto in Kolkata with an aggressive roadmap for West Bengal's future. The infiltration rhetoric was echoed once again in the manifesto with a promise to seal the borders, curb illegal infiltration, including ensuring citizenship for legal migrants.
The BJP said it will build four industrial townships, with one primarily as a security hub, if it comes to power. It also promised a Rs 3,000 monthly financial assistance to unemployed youth and an additional Rs 15,000 to prepare for competitive examinations. The aid is similar to what the current Trinamool Congress (TMC) establishment is transferring to the unemployed. Another rural welfare scheme the BJP plans to take forward is a monthly transfer of Rs 3,000 to women in the state.
Promises to ensure women empowerment also included 33 per cent reservation in state government jobs and all-women police stations to ensure security of women in the state. “The CM will not make such a statement questioning why a woman has to go out late at night,” said Amit Shah while referring to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s comments on the Durgapur medical college rape case last year.
Shah also hinted at a Bengali-speaking CM from within the state if the saffron party forms the government. “I have said earlier that a person born in Bengal, Bengali speaking, from the state will be the Chief Minister. We won’t run the government from Delhi. Even if it is ruled from Delhi it is better than being a government being run from Bangladesh,” said the Union Home Minister.
Shah also said it will build a Vande Mataram museum to promote Bengal’s glory globally. TMC and BJP have been at a war of words of Vande Mataram, which the saffron party is using to project itself as a party that wants to preserve Bengal’s culture.
Shah also responded to TMC’s allegations in connection with a sting video purportedly showing Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) founder Humayun Kabir. In the video, he allegedly says he got Rs 200 crore from the BJP, with a total of Rs 1,000 crore promised to him to deflect minority votes from TMC.
“Humayun Kabir and the BJP are at two opposite poles. Rather than having an understanding with such a party, we would prefer to sit in the opposition,” clarified Shah.
Overall, the BJP portrayed a picture of being a party that wants to shape Bengal’s glory and create a 100-day roadmap to tackle immediate issues while working to restore people’s faith in the state. The message was clear: Bengal is high on BJP's list of priority states to win over the masses and end the 15-year-old rule of TMC.