After the extraordinary gains in the recent Lok Sabha elections, confident of routing the ruling Trinamool Congress, BJP has started preparations for the impending 2021 Assembly elections in West Bengal.
Amidst the ongoing row over “Jai Shri Ram” slogans, the BJP on Monday declared that it will continue campaigning in West Bengal with the slogans “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Maha Kali” until the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is ousted from power.
The three words, ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has been triggering the West Bengal Cheif Minister these days.
Attempting to hit Mamata where it has been hurting the most lately, BJP’s general secretary and West Bengal in-charge, Kailash Vijayvargiya told reporters during his first visit to the state after the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections that, “Our slogans in Bengal would be ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Maha Kali’. Bengal is the land of Maha Kali, and we need the goddess’ blessings.”
The inclusion of “Jai Maha Kali” in its list of slogans for the state comes at a time when Mamta Banerjee dubbed BJP of being a party of outsiders and criminals which does not understand the culture of Bengal.
Vijayvargiya added that the BJP’s work in Bengal will not be complete until it overthrows Mamata Banerjee. “I wonder why Mamata Banerjee always gets angry when people shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans. Is chanting it a crime? If so, why? We would like her government to explain,” he said, adding that his party is against the Trinamool Congress’ policies of “appeasement, terror tactics and oppression of opposition parties”.
The BJP leader also predicted that Mamata Banerjee government will not complete its full term. He said that the government will fall in advance as a large number of TMC MLAs are ready to rebel and quit. There will be en masse exodus of TMC MLAs, who can quit the party any time, he said.
The West Bengal Chief Minister who accused the BJP of creating unrest in the state by “mixing politics with religion”, incidentally, confronted people shouting the “Jai Shri Ram” slogan on at least two occasions since April.
The qualm of losing its significance in West Bengal has made Mamata oversensitive who recently took to Facebook to let the world know that she will continue to oppose ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans as they are a deliberate attempt ‘to sell hatred ideology’. In the Facebook post, Banerjee said that the BJP is using religious slogan Jai Shri Ram as their party slogan in a misconceived manner by way of mixing religion with politics.
Meanwhile, BJP MP from Barrackpore constituency Arjun Singh said that the BJP has decided to send 10 lakh postcards with Jai Shri Ram written on them to Banerjee, following the angry outburst of West Bengal Chief Minister over people chanting the slogans of Jai Shri Ram. The postcards would be sent to Banerjee’s residence, added Singh.
Previously too, Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) had distributed 10 lakh postcards with ‘Jai Shri Ram’ message stamped on it addressed to West Bengal’s Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee. These postcards were made available at every post office from where people of West Bengal could have acquired it and send personalised messages to the Chief Minister.
