‘Jai Shri Ram has become the slogan of Bengal polls’
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is in charge of five Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, says the Trinamool Congress’s electoral ship is about to sink. In an interview with Smriti Kak Ramachandran ahead of the assembly polls, he also accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s government of corruption, and said “Jai Shri Ram” has become Bengal’s election slogan. Edited excerpts:
The BJP won 18 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. How confident is the party of translating the gains in the upcoming assembly polls?
People in Bengal are fed up with the TMC government; they are unhappy with corruption, the red tape and politics of vendetta... it took Mamata Banerjee 15 years to make people believe that she can change things. Till the last assembly election (when the BJP won 3 seats), people did not believe that the BJP can be an alternative. Now, people are convinced that change can happen only when the BJP comes to power.
What gives the BJP an edge over the TMC?
Development that took place since the Narendra Modi government was formed (at the Centre)…the changes in the lives of ordinary people have sent out a message to the poor and the masses that development can only happen if the BJP government is there. People are aware of how the implementation of central schemes is not happening in West Bengal.
How will the BJP counter the ‘Bahari (outsider)’ vs Bengali narrative?
In the last 10 years, her (Banerjee’s) slogan has been “Ma, Mati,
Manush (mother, soil and people)”. Today, the people of Bengal are compelled to acknowledge that they (the state government) have not done justice to any of the sections...
How do you read Banerjee’s decision of contesting from Nandigram?
She’s running away to Nandigram because she is scared. She is aware... that this time she cannot win the election in Bhawanipore (in south Kolkata).
The BJP accuses the TMC of appeasement for votes. Now, Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui has floated his political party. AIMIM is also throwing its hat in the ring.
Will the BJP benefit from the divisions in the Muslim vote?
This is the first time that elections will be contested in West Bengal on the basis of development…the face of development in India is Prime Minister Modi. If there is a Modi versus Mamata comparison on the issue of development, then people have no doubts about who to pick...
What is your comment about the acrimony between the parties over chanting “Jai Shri Ram”?
Looking at her response to the chant, people across ideologies are questioning why she gets irritated by it. Jai Shri Ram has now certainty become the slogan of the election in Bengal.