BJP Govt in Bengal Will be of Nationalists: Suvendu

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday said the BJP government in West Bengal will be of the nationalists, and it will uphold Indian tradition and culture and work to change the system in the state.

Expressing the BJP's gratitude to the people of north Bengal for their continued support to the saffron party, Adhikari, in his maiden visit to the region as the chief minister, said the newly formed government will fulfill all promises made in the party's manifesto for the West Bengal assembly polls within a specific timeframe.

"This will be a government of the people, of the nationalists and will uphold Indian tradition and culture," Adhikari said.

"We will have a dream government which will fulfill the aspirations of the people. We do not want just a change of the ruling party flag's colour or the people at the helm; we want a change in the system," the chief minister said.

Speaking at the BJP office in Siliguri, the largest city in north Bengal, Adhikari said that announcements made by the party in its 'Sankalpa Patra' (poll manifesto) are already being delivered, while maintaining that there will be seamless coordination between the government and the party.

The new government has decided to introduce the Annapurna Yojana, doubling the monthly monetary assistance to women from Rs 1,500 under the Lakshmir Bhandar initiative of the previous Mamata Banerjee dispensation to Rs 3,000.

It has also made travel in government buses free for women and announced the introduction of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in the state.

He said that in the changed situation, there will not exist 'syndicates' or 'cut money culture' or 'mafia raj' and there will not be any kind of anti-national activity in West Bengal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had repeatedly said that 'syndicate raj', 'cut money culture' and 'mafia raj' prevailed in West Bengal during the TMC rule, and vowed to establish the rule of law in the state.

Adhikari said the new BJP government will ensure the fulfilment of the dreams of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Bharat Sevasram Sangha founder Swami Pranabananda.

He asserted that his government will fulfill all the promises made in the BJP's poll manifesto within a specific timeframe.

"Some promises will be fulfilled within three months, some within six months and others within one year," the chief minister said.

The CM said that his government will work with the suggestions of the people.

"We want to run the government involving the masses, so as to fulfill the principle of 'Of the people, by the people, for the people' embedded in the foundation of the Constitution. The TMC had turned it into 'For the family, by the family and of the family' and 'For the party, by the party, of the party'," Adhikari said.

He acknowledged the contributions of the BJP workers and supporters in establishing the party's organisation in north Bengal, saying, "You have suffered due to slapping of false cases and worked tremendously hard to take the party to this position." He said BJP supporters suffered due to the partisan attitude of the previous administration and that there were instances of preventing people from practising their religion freely.

"The previous government tried to create division among the people; 11 different boards were made in the hills to divide people there," he said.

He claimed that the Rajbanshi society and the gods of the Matua and other SC communities were insulted under the previous TMC dispensation.

Adhikari said he will work to fulfill the developmental aspirations of the people of north Bengal. The CM said he will visit the region every month along with other ministers of his cabinet.

"The BJP government will work towards giving north Bengal its developmental dues to erase the deprivation meted out to the region earlier," he said.

The North Bengal Development Minister will hold office in Siliguri one day every week, Adhikari said, with the minister in charge of the department, Nisith Pramanik, in tow.

North Bengal has been a BJP bastion for quite some years now and the people of the region hope for some new announcements for the region by Adhikari in his first visit after taking oath as chief minister on May 9, a local saffron party leader said.

Women in traditional red and white sarees blowing conch shells, and men beating 'dhaks' (drums) lined the streets through which Adhikari passed after landing at Bagdogra airport here.

The BJP won 40 of the 54 assembly constituencies in north Bengal in the recently concluded elections, surpassing the previous record of 30 seats in the 2021 polls.

The BJP had won the Darjeeling seat in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, he said, maintaining that the people of north Bengal supported the saffron party silently since then.

Stating that in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP had got eight out of nine seats in the region, Adhikari said, "North Bengal will get precedence in this government's development initiatives."