TMC invokes ‘Bengali pride’ to counter BJP’s Hindutva plank

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has decided to counter the BJP’s Hindutva politics by invoking Bengali pride ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls. With party supremo Mamata Banerjee setting the tone, TMC leaders are attacking the BJP repeatedly by calling it a ‘party of outsiders’.

While the BJP has sent the likes of Amit Malviya, its IT cell chief, to manage the party’s election campaign in the state, Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday fielded Minister Bratya Basu. An acclaimed theatre and film personality, Basu is a prominent face in Bengal’s cultural sphere who took the plunge to join active politics supporting Banerjee’s call for ‘poriborton’ during her Singur and Nandigram days.

“Why has BJP not given a full cabinet berth to any of its Bengal MPs? Their sole aim is to control Bengalis so that we remain subservient to them. Have things come to such a low that Bengal and Bengalis will bow down to them? Should Bengalis accept leaders from other states being imposed on us?” the minister asked.

“Can they show one minister in UP or Gujarat with surname Chatterjee, Banerjee, Sen or Ganguly? Because they do not consider Bengalis living there as their own! Bengalis are considered outsiders there,” Basu said.

“North Indians have tried to corner Bengalis since the time Subhas Bose lost in Tripuri Congress the same is being repeated now with Mamata Banerjee. But she continues to fight just like Bose. Should Bengalis accept leaders from other states being imposed on them?” the TMC minister asked.

Raising the bogey of Bengali nationalism, Basu invoked the sacrifice of revolutionary freedom fighters Khudiram Bose and Binoy-Badal-Dinesh.

“Cellular jail has been named after Savarkar who wrote five mercy pleas to the British but not after the likes of Hemchandra Kanungo, Barin Ghosh, Ullaskar Dutta who were tortured for years. When Bengali revolutionaries were sacrificing their lives for the cause of this motherland, the forefathers of these outsiders were tilling the land on behalf of the British! Show me one person from UP or Gujarat who went to the gallows against the British?” he asked.

Drawing references to the desecration of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar’s statue during Amit Shah’s roadshow in Kolkata last year, Basu said an assault was being mounted on Bengal and Bengali culture by “outsiders”.

With the “insider versus outsider” debate raging in Bengal, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh hit back and said, “The BJP has established itself as the largest political party in the world. And a Bengali, Dr Shayama Prasad Mookherjee founded this party. They talk about Bengali pride, but what have they done for Bengalis? TMC has turned Bengalis into migrant labourers.”

BJP HITS BACK: DILIP GHOSH SAYS DON'T LECTURE US

Hitting back at the TMC over Bratya Basu's attack against the BJP, party's Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh said, “Those who have lost the trust of people in Bengal are lecturing us about outsiders.” “One minister was talking about the freedom struggleI want to ask him, did freedom fighters from Bengal sacrifice their lives only for Bengal or for the entire nation?” Dilip Ghosh asked.

BJP leader Dilip Ghosh went on to add: “They now see outsiders in everything. The CM says not to be scared of outsiders. Is she referring to people around her?”

“People within her own party have revolted against the dadagiri of outsiders. Outsiders are deciding her party’s strategy, its leadership. So they are dreaming of outsiders,” Dilip Ghosh added.

Slamming the TMC, Dilip Ghosh said such statements put the lives of migrant workers at risk in other states. “About 40 lakh migrant workers work outside Bengal. Such statements put their lives in jeopardy. If a similar slogan is raised in other states, and Bengalis are sent back, what will happen?”

“She [Mamata Banerjee] is driving Bengalis in great trouble due to her politics,” BJP’s Dilip Ghosh said.

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