Source: Internet
Kolkata 24 Jan : Ahead of the municipal elections in Bengal in April, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to corner the TMC, which doesn’t have much popularity in the Hills. While the state BJP has decided to project how the West Bengal government is yet to grant land rights(parja patta) to the tea garden workers in the Hills even after 72 years of independence, the Trinamool Congress has decided to ignite the agenda for the separate Gorkhaland issue apart from the protest on CAA, NRC and NPR. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already held rallies in Darjeeling on Wednesday against the CAA.
Raju Bista, Darjeeling BJP MP said: “Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is yet to grant land rights to the tea garden workers, cinchona garden workers even after 72 years of independence. This is the root cause of the insecurity of the workers working in the forest areas of Terai and Dooars.”
Mamata Banerjee arrived in Siliguri on 20 January to inaugurate the Uttar Banga Utsav and then headed straight to the Hills where she organized an-anti CAA rally. She questioned the rationale behind the implementation of CAA, at a time when it is not applicable in the North Eastern states. She even conducted a procession from Bhanu Bhawan to Chowk Baazar in the heart of Darjeeling against the CAA and said that Gorkhas are citizens of India and although the BJP government has told the Gorkhas that they will look after the issue of separate Gorkhaland once they came to power, till now the issue has not been addressed.
Sources in state BJP said that apart from campaigning for CAA , and exposing the lies the that Opposition parties are spreading about the CAA , NRC and NPR, they have also decided to take up the issue of the land rights of the tea garden workers who have been deprived for 72 years and state government is yet to take up the issue forward .
A senior BJP leader said: “In the Hills, the tea garden workers are deprived of their land rights. But chief minister Mamata Banerjee did not utter any single word on this issue. We will raise the issue and will urge the people to protest against this irregularity.”
Here is a tweet from BJP state president Dilip Ghosh on how he is reaching people of North Bengal by conducting door -to door campaigning for CAA.
Mamata Banerjee at a protest rally on CAA in Darjeeling on Wednesday
Banerjee on Wednesday said: “ Gorkhas are citizens of India . Nobody can snatch their citizenship rights . All ethnic groups, whatever dialect they speak, are Indians and we all not allow BJP to implement the CAA . All BJP leaders visit the Hills before elections and promise to create Gorkhaland. Do they think people of the Hills are fools ? Don’t they have any self respect ?”
A background of the BJP rise in the Hills
Trinamool Congress has virtually lost control of the Hills since BJP won all the Lok Sabha seats in 2019 in Darjeeling and also the Assembly seat earlier. Influeincing the people of Darjeeling is one of the challenges that TMC is facing now . The Assembly seat was won by former Gorkha National Liberation Front spokesperson Niraj Zimba who contested on a BJP ticket . Raju Bista of BJP won the Lok Sabha seat . Earlier SS Ahluwalia of BJP won the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat.
The Trinamool Congress is desperately trying to secure maximum number of municipality seats in Darjeeling . Altogether there are 32 seats under the Darjeeling Assembly constituency.
Trinamool Congress strategy meeting before the municipal election
On Friday Trinamool Congress convened a meeting with all the MLAs, MPs and councilliors and have decided to strengthen their protest against the CAA, NRC and NPR . Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will convene three rallies in West Bengal on Februaray and the first rally will start at Bongaon in North 24-Parganas on 5 February. Significantly, Thakurnagar in Bongaon is the headquarters of the Hindu religious sect Matua community and when the entire coutry is protestsing against the CAA , the Matuas supported the CAA and thanked Modi for implementing it .Apart from these, several rallies will be conducted in various blocks in the districts of West Bengal.