In Martyrs’ Day speech, Mamata talks of INDIA, silent on Cong, attacks CPM, BJP

On Friday, the West Bengal Chief Minister laid out the future roadmap for her party and government, in a speech that was incidentally laden with Hindi words and phrases.

INDIA Alliance

“I am happy that before 2024 (Lok Sabha polls) we have formed an alliance, INDIA. I do not care about any chair. But we want the BJP to go out politically. The BJP can no longer be tolerated,” said Mamata.

Raising the slogan “Let INDIA win and let BJP lose”, she said: “A new India will be created in 2024 for development and for people. Usko fek do. Hum ko kursi nahi chahiye. Hum ko shanti chahiye (Throw them out. We do not need a chair but we need peace).”

In between her speech, she chanted other slogans, like “Joy INDIA” along with her party slogan of “Joy Bangla”, “INDIA aap agey badho, Hum sab aap ke saath hain (India you move ahead, We are with you)” and “INDIA jitega Modi harega (India will win Modi will lose)”.

She also proposed that an INDIA team, especially of its chief ministers, go to Manipur to see the ground-level situation in the Northeast state. “If all parties in the alliance agree, we can go.”

Unlike her speeches and press conferences in the recent past, she kept mum on the Congress as she targeted the BJP. She also declared that her party won’t play a “decisive role” in the alliance. She said: “We do not care about power or post, we care about peace for our nation.”

Manipur

The TMC chief’s attack on the BJP focused on the recent Manipur violence. Mamata said West Bengal stands in solidarity with the “brothers and sisters of Manipur and the Northeast”. Referring to the video of two Kuki-Zomi women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted, she said, “Kahan gaya Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao? Aaj toh beti jal rahi hai (Where is Beti Bachao Beti Padhao? Right now, our daughters are burning). Today the honour of women is being snatched. This time women, mothers and sisters will throw you (the BJP) out. We show solidarity with our brothers and sisters of Manipur and the Northeast. We have sent a delegation to Manipur too,” she said, adding, “The Centre sends teams to Bengal at the drop of a hat. But why has no team been sent to Manipur?”

Panchayat poll violence

On the violence and loss of life in West Bengal during the recently-concluded panchayat polls, Mamata stated that every death was tragic, and blamed the Left for the violence. “There were some stray incidents during the panchayat elections, and steps were taken on each.”

Criticising the CPI(M), she said, “You [CPI(M)] always have allergy for Mamata Banerjee. But you should remember how many people were killed during Buddhababu’s (former CM Buddhadev Bhattacharya’s) regime. In the 2003 panchayat elections, 89 people were killed. Basically, in panchayat elections, as many as four people become candidates from one family on many occasions. And there are quarrels. It is more of a social problem than political. We have inherited the CPI(M)’s legacy. We did not make the panchayat system so political.”

She added, “Each and every death during the panchayat elections is upsetting and tragic,” adding that of the 29 deaths during the poll campaign, 18 were of Trinamool workers. “Will Trinamool murder Trinamool? Of the 71,000 booths where polling was conducted, violence was reported from a mere three booths. One is Bhangar, where some hangor (shark in Bengali, a reference to the ISF candidate) created violence. Another is Domkol, where we lost. Other than these, violence occured in Islampur and Cooch Behar. Three people from the CPI(M), three from the BJP and three from other parties died. The state government is giving each family Rs 2 lakh and a home guard’s job. We never differentiate by political identity.”

Central dues and ‘Khela Hobe’

Mamata announced that the TMC-led state government will start its own 100 days’ work scheme like the Centre’s MGNREGA. She said it will be named “Khela Hobe” — the TMC slogan in the 2021 Assembly elections.

The TMC has accused the Centre of not releasing funds to the state for key projects, with the Centre claiming anomalies in running the projects as the reason. “We are creating this project to give jobs to the state’s poor. The Central government stopped giving MGNREGA funds, but we already created 27 ‘man days’. Now, we will give poor people MGNREGA-like work, which will be named Khela Hobe, and we will give money to people on our own. Those who have job cards, will get work under this project.”

She also said, “The Central government stopped promised funds for 11 lakh houses. We decided we will give funds to build such houses. I know there are 70,000-80,000 more applications already filed under this project. We will include those applications in this scheme.”

‘Delhi chalo’ and gherao of BJP leaders

Mamata said that before next year’s Lok Sabha elections, her party will take the fight against the Centre to Delhi. She added that her party will gherao BJP leaders of all levels across the state, demanding unpaid Central dues of the state. The move, a brainchild apparently of TMC No. 2 Abhishek Banerjee, shows that the TMC wants to keep pressure on the BJP at the grassroots, even after the panchayat polls.

Mamata said, “We will take our fight to Delhi. On October 2, which is Gandhi Jayanti, we will hold a dharna in Delhi, where we will raise our demand that the Centre release Bengal’s pending dues. The Central government takes money from our state under the guise of GST, and then withholds our funds.”

She added, “On August 5, the Trinamool will hold a block-level protest, where we will peacefully gherao the houses of BJP leaders across Bengal. But I’ll tell my party workers to be wary, and make sure that common people are not inconvenienced.”

Interestingly, while Abhishek announced gheraos at the booth-level in his speech, Mamata Banerjee exercised caution and changed it to block-level.

ED-CBI raids

Perhaps keeping in mind that the then state industry minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested in the wee hours of July 23, 2022, a day after last year’s Martyr’s Day celebrations, Mamata highlighted her fear of fresh raids on TMC leaders by Central agencies. She said, “I’m confident that once our July 21 programme is over, we will again face harassment from these agencies. They will put either me or you in jail. But this will not dampen our spirits.”