‘Forgot Rajbanshi after polls’: Abhishek Banerjee launches stinging attack on BJP

“Shah had promised to form the Indian Army’s ‘Narayani Sena’ battalion from community members in the 2019, 2021 and 2024 polls, but the Center is yet to fulfill its promise. When the Rajbanshi came to their areas to seek votes for the BJP candidates, BJP leaders like Shah described him as a friend and made a lot of promises, but once the polls were over and he returned to Delhi, he forgot about the community,” Banerjee said. “This exposes the true face of the deceptive nature of the BJP.”Banerjee claimed that the BJP government’s negligence also extends to cultural and language issues. He said the Center is yet to respond to the West Bengal government’s demand to include the Rajbanshi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. “The Center is ignoring such demands and hurting the pride and self-respect of the people of Rajbansi who have their own culture and identity,” he said.The TMC leader also attacked Shah for being “ignorant” of Bengal’s indigenous community and its icons. “We are yet to see the Center erecting a monument to Panchanan Barma in Cooch Behar as Amit Shah had promised in an election meeting a few years ago. What is more, he has even distorted his own name as Panchanan Barma, which has hurt the sentiments of every resident of Cooch Behar and Bengal,” he said.Banerjee further accused the Modi government of failing to fulfill other promises made to North Bengal, including setting up religious tourism centers and AIIMS-type hospitals. “Shah’s promise to develop a religious tourism hub by developing a popular temple in Cooch Behar has also not materialized, while the assurance of setting up an AIIMS-type hospital in North Bengal appears to be on hold,” he said.The TMC leader also alleged that many Bengali-speaking immigrants from North Bengal face harassment in the BJP-ruled state. “Also remember how many Bengali-speaking immigrants from Cooch Behar and other parts of Bengal, including Murshidabad and Malda, are harassed simply for speaking Bengali in a state ruled by the BJP,” he said, describing the current political contest as “a battle between insult, humiliation and respect, Asmita and dignity.”“Urging people to vote against the BJP, Banerjee said, “Don’t fall into the trap set by the BJP and its allies. They want to divide people along racial, linguistic and religious lines. Be vigilant.”He also accused the BJP of deleting the names of hundreds of thousands of Bengalis, including “hundreds of thousands of Hindu Bengalis”, from the civil register under the “under-adjudication” clause.Banerjee reiterated that the state’s flagship welfare scheme ‘Rakeshesh Bandar’ will continue, “A BJP woman leader said in Cooch Behar during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls event that the BJP will stop the scheme if ‘Lakeshesh Bandar’ comes to power in Bengal.” But our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee devised other ways like raising funds from our own resources so that people are not deprived of their rights. “He accused the Modi government of “withholding 2 billion rupees from Bangladesh” and “letting the poor starve” by blocking central funds.The Rajbanshis, descendants of the Koch dynasty, are the largest scheduled caste group in North Bengal and are mainly concentrated in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Darjeeling districts. They have historically been committed to language recognition and regional development, and have regularly called for the creation of an independent Kamatapur state or autonomous council.The 294-member West Bengal assembly elections will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, with counting of votes taking place on May 4.