India: BJP says will turn Bengal into Gujarat

A WAR of words erupted between the TMC and the BJP on Monday after the state president of the BJP said his party would work towards turning West Bengal into Gujarat once it comes to power in the state.

Ghosh said, Leaders such as Biman Bose, Buddhababu (former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee) made sure that people here do not become doctors, engineers but migrant labourers who seek jobs in Gujarat. We want to turn Bengal into Gujarat once we form a government here. Didi (Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) often accuses us of trying to turn West Bengal into Gujarat. Yes, absolutely. We will turn Bengal into Gujarat so that our children get jobs here and do not have to migrate to Gujarat, the BJP leader said after interacting with local residents at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district.

Senior TMC leader and state minister Firhad Hakim urged the BJP MP to leave Bengal and settle down in Gujarat. Around 2,000 people were killed in the Gujarat riots in 2002. If we turn Bengal into Gujarat then people will fear of dying in encounters. Therefore, we do not want to turn Bengal into Gujarat. This is Rabindranath Tagore’s Bengal, Nazrul’s Bengal. People need to decide whether to retain Bengal’s cultural heritage or inherit riot politics from Gujarat.