Key sentence:
- Infiltrators from Bangladesh and Rohingyas from Myanmar are involved in post-poll violence in Bengal.
- Adhikari feels Bengal is much worse than what is required to enforce Article 356.
- Adhikari joined the BJP in December last year and defeated Mamata Banerjee in the recent assembly polls at Nandigram.
Infiltrators from Bangladesh and Rohingyas from Myanmar are involved in post-poll violence in Bengal, alleged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday.
“I told Modi Ji about the atrocities BJP workers are facing in the state. As many as 25 women have been raped. Bangladeshis and Rohingyas are involved in these crimes. Thousands are homeless.
At Ausgram (in East Burdwan district), 26 families are hiding in a jungle,” Ghosh, who is the leader of the opposition in the Bengal assembly, told the media in Delhi.
He was scheduled to meet Union home minister Amit Shah for the second consecutive day.
The BJP has been alleging for a long time that Rohingya refugees were given shelter by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, but the ruling party always denied such claims.
Adhikari said he would participate in the state-wide agitation that Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh announced on Tuesday after meeting state office bearers. “We will meet the President with our petition,” said Adhikari.
After meeting Shah and BJP president JP Nadda on Tuesday, Adhikari said he feels that the situation in Bengal is much worse than what is required to enforce Article 356. Still, his party has not taken a formal stand on this issue.
Under Article 356 of the Constitution of India, the Union government can take direct control of the state machinery if a state government is unable to function according to Constitutional provisions.
Questions were raised about Adhikari’s absence at the office bearers’ meeting when Ghosh said he was not aware why Adhikari had been called to Delhi.
“There are no differences between us. I am part of the decision taken by Ghosh. We will carry out agitations from June 23,” Adhikari said on Wednesday.
During the day, three BJP Lok Sabha MPs from Bengal, Arjun Singh, Saumitra Khan and Nisith Pramanik, flew to Delhi to meet national leaders regarding the law and order situation in the state.
“There is no rule of law. Police are not accepting complaints. On Sunday, when a man was murdered at Jagaddal in North 24 Parganas, some shops were looted in the local market, but no action was taken,” said Singh, who is the local MP.
Dismissing Adhikari’s allegation, Bengal cabinet minister Firhad Hakim said, “Adhikari is trying to save himself from the ire of BJP leaders. The BJP thought inducting him would automatically ensure its victory in the Bengal polls. Adhikari is now trying to soothe the party bosses.”
Adhikari joined the BJP in December last year and defeated Mamata Banerjee in the recent assembly polls at Nandigram, the seat he held in the East Midnapore district. His father and younger brother are TMC Lok Sabha MPs from the district.
