Malda/Nabadwip: BJP president JP Nadda took on Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee last week, alleging her of depriving the benefits of central government schemes because of her “ego”. “Mamata didi has done gross injustice to Bengal’s farmers. Caught in her ego, she didn’t allow the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. Her stubborn stance deprived 70,00,000 Bengal farmers from getting benefits for more than two years. A farmer lost out on Rs 14,000 in the process,” he said before having lunch with farmers at Sahapur in Malda district.
The BJP president flagged off the party’s ‘Parivartan Yatra’ from Nabadwip in south Bengal and coined a slogan: Onek hoyechhe Mamata, paribartan chaihhe janata (Enough of Mamata, people want change). But he ended his speech with the ‘Jai Bharat, Jai Bangla’ slogan that sounded similar to Mamata’s.
Nadda said: “After realising that 25,00,000 farmers have applied online for PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, the CM has said she wants to implement the scheme. She has missed the bus.” Nadda also cited a host of welfare schemes, namely Ayushman Bharat, Ujjwala Yojana and Soubhagya Yojana.
Problem of plenty
The BJP is doing everything to claim the legacy of Netaji Subhas Bose by promising new infra projects and new jobs – to make the lotus bloom in Bengal. And most tellingly, the party has seen a steady stream of TMC leaders join its ranks in the last few months. It is facing a problem aplenty now. After former TMC ministers Suvendu Adhikari and Rajib Banerjee switched sides, the party has potentially solved its old problem of lacking charismatic Bengali faces.
On the other hand there is growing disquiet within the party over the new inductees, with the old guard feeling marginalised. This recently forced BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya to announce that the party was halting “mass joinings” of leaders from TMC. There are also apprehensions that inducting TMC members accused of corruption and extortion – charges BJP has been levelling against the Mamata government – could prove a costly stain on the lotus. Finally, there is resentment among grassroots BJP cadre now having to work with their former political rivals. In fact, there have been several clashes between the BJP old-timers and new entrants.
