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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah held a rally in Kolkata on Saturday, 11 August, amid clear indications from his party leaders that they will make the alleged presence of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in West Bengal a poll issue and seek an Assam-like NRC for the state.
Amit Shah’s rally underscores his intention to build the NRC issue as a major poll plank in Mamata Banerjee’s state.
Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien told ANI, “Amit Shah's meeting was a flop show, he has insulted Bengal . He doesn't understand the culture of Bengal and even insulted it with his blatant lies. If he doesn't apologise within next 72 hours we will take legal action against him.”
Union minister and Asansol MP Babul Supriyo took to Twitter and alleged TMC of trying to blackout prime local TV channels to block the coverage of Amit Shah’s rally.
Accusing Mamata Banerjee of appeasement politics, and criticising her restrictions during the Durga Puja immersion celebrations, Amit Shah said there has to be limit to appeasement politics in Bengal.
“There is a limit to appeasement. How can Bengal not celebrate durga puja and saraswati puja? Elect the BJP government in Bengal and we will show you how to celebrate Hindu festivals,” Shah said during his rally in Kolkata.
In a scathing attack on Mamata Banerjee’s government, Amit Shah on Saturday said that during TMC’s tenure, there has been no development in Bengal – only guns and bomb factories have increased.
“We not only want change in Bengal, we want to uproot TMC from West Bengal,” Shah said.
Amit Shah in his speech on Saturday, 10 August, lashed out at Mamata Banerjee stating “If we don’t stop the illegal immigration, then Bengal won’t be safe. The only way to achieve that is NRC. That’s why I ask my brothers and sisters to support NRC.”
Taking jibe at the ‘BJP Go Back’ posters put out by the TMC cadres, Amit Shah said on Saturday in his Kolkata rally, “How can we be against Bengal when, our party was founded by a Bengali?”
He further added that however hard Mamata tries to stop NRC, “we are totally committed to it.”
Amit Shah has reached Mayo Road to attend a rally at Kolkata.
Amit Shah’s rally underscores his intention to build the NRC issue as a major poll plank in Mamata Banerjee’s state.
BJP supporters crowd at the Yuva Swabhiman Samavesh Rally in Kolkata.
Amit Shah arrived at the city at around 11:30 am to take part in a rally organised by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
Arrangements have been bettered by the BJP since the last time when the tent crashed as PM Modi gave his speech at Midnapore, reported local media houses.
BJP President Amit Shah arrived at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose international airport in Kolkata on Saturday, 11 August, to address the Yuva Swabhiman Samavesh organised by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in Kolkata.
Unidentified miscreants attacked a bus which was waiting to take BJP workers to Kolkata in Nayabasat area of West Midnapore in West Bengal on Friday night, 10 August.
The bus was waiting to take BJP workers to Kolkata for party President Amit Shah's rally. ANI reported that no injures have yet been reported and FIR has been lodged in Chandrakona Town police outpost.
Posters reading ‘BJP Go Back’ were seen on the streets of Kolkata ahead of BJP President Amit Shah's rally on Saturday 11 August.
TMC will take out rallies across West Bengal on Saturday to protest against the publication of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, a senior leader of the party said.
The state capital, however, has been exempted from tomorrow's plan, TMC secretary-general and West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee told PTI.
"Barring Kolkata, we will organise rallies across the state in protest against the NRC. A separate rally will be taken out in the capital city on Sunday," Chatterjee told reporters.
A central BJP delegation on Thursday visited the venue of party president Amit Shah's rally in Kolkata on 11 August and insisted on deployment of a drone for mass surveillance in view of the tent collapse incident at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Midnapore rally in June.
The drone is essential as lakhs of people are expected to gather at Mayo Road in Kolkata on Saturday. So from the security point of view, a drone is a necessity, Kailash Vijayvargiya told reporters.
(With inputs from ANI.)
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Published: 10 Aug 2018,10:39 PM IST