BJP WAKES UP IN BENGAL, People in remote Bastar STARTS DAMAGE ASSESSMENT areas get basic govt services
‘Vijayvargiya has not visited the state even once becasue of anger against him’. Impact of government’s ‘Development, Trust and Security’ mantra visible.
The West Bengal BJP unit seems to have woken from the shock that it received following the May election results with senior leaders now embarking on an interactive and consultative exercise with state leaders and workers to find out the reasons for the defeat.
The assessment is also being done regarding the position of the party cadre and organization in the interior districts of the state where it is reported that many of the party workers have either resigned from the party due to multiple factors or have gone back to the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
According to state party leaders, after the “unexpected” defeat that was announced on 2 May, national president Jagat Prakash Nadda had gone to Bengal and interacted with senior leaders like Kailash Vijayvargiya, Shiv Prakash, Dilip Ghosh and Arvind Menon to gauge what had gone wrong. However, no exercise or meetings were done after that to assess the reasons for the defeat.
It was only in August that national joint general secretary of the party, Shiv Prakash, started conducting meetings with all the district units of the BJP to assess where the party’s electoral policies faltered in an election where the BJP fought with every arsenal at its command.
“One of the main points that was raised by Shiv Prakash was regarding the status of the party’s organization in the interior parts of
Bengal. He has asked each district president to give him a list of leaders who are likely to defect to the TMC in the coming days. A list of those, who have already defected, too has been asked for,” a party leader, who attended one of such meetings, said. Shiv Prakash has also asked the district and state leaders, apart from the block leaders, to submit the problems that they were facing regarding strengthening the party’s infrastructure in the state. The central leadership, through Shiv Prakash, has asked the state leaders to become active on the ground and “stand with party workers” who “seem to have lost the will” to work for the BJP, as stated by a district president to The Sunday Guardian.
Ever since the TMC regained power, at least three BJP MLAS have switched sides. This includes former
National Vice President of the BJP and MLA from Krishnanagar Uttar, Mukul Roy, BJP MLA from Bishnupur Tanmay Ghosh and Bagdah MLA Biswajit Das. Following the result, statein-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya has not visited the state even once as there is a massive resentment against him among the state leaders and there were strong apprehensions that he would be heckled with even ink being thrown on him by party workers if he goes to the state.
Two Lok Sabha MPS, too, shared their anger against Vijayvargiya with The Sunday Guardian while holding him responsible for the debacle in the elections. “He misused faith imposed on him by the party leadership and gave tickets to undeserving candidates. The list of allegations against him is long; ask any party leader from West Bengal. He is single-handedly responsible for TMC’S win in the election,” a party MP, who was in Delhi, told The Sunday Guardian.
According to him, this anger was shared by other party MPS too, including many who have no BJP background and who had joined the party in the last 2-3 years. “No one should be surprised if some of the BJP MPS move to TMC before the 2024 general elections,” he said.
Shiv Prakash has asked each district president to give him a list of leaders who are likely to defect to the TMC in the coming days. A list of those, who have already defected, too has been asked for.
After being deprived of facilities for years, people of Bastar in Chhattisgarh are now getting services of the government through camps. Special camps are being organized for redressal of grievances related to Aadhar card, Ration card, Ayushman card and pension cases, as per the Chhattisgarh Information Centre here. In sensitive areas of Sukma district, villagers thronged similar camps in Silger, Minapa, Sarkeguda. The positive response by the villagers prompted the administration to increase the duration of the camp. To provide various facilities to the villagers of these sensitive areas of Sukma district, a facilitation camp was organized at village Sarkeguda. Vehicles were also arranged by the administration so that the villagers do not face any problem in commuting to the camp site. Villagers of Minpa and Silger had apprised the administration about their problems, for which facilitation camps are being set up in these areas for quick redressal. Similar camps will be organized in other villages in the coming days.
The camp-strategy adopted by the Chhattisgarh government to provide basic facilities like education, health, employment, drinking water to the inner villages is proving to be very effective. There are seven districts in Bastar division. These seven districts are included in the list of aspirational districts of the country. In the tribal dominated districts of Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon, Bastar (Jagdalpur) and Kanker, access to facilities in the hinterland has always been a challenge due to geographical complexities and Naxal activities.
The Chhattisgarh government led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel decided to adopt a camp-strategy according to the local conditions for the development of the division by moving away from the traditional methods. This new strategy of governance is based on the principles of development, trust and security. To ensure an environment of security in the Naxal-affected interior areas, security-force camps were set up at various places. These safety-camps opened the way for other camps related to public conveniences. Through the mobile clinics of Mukhyamantri Haat-bazaar Clinic Yojna, now medical-camps have started in the Haat-bazaars of the interior areas, where the villagers are getting the facility of free examination, treatment and medicines. Success has been achieved in restarting hundreds of schools which were closed due to Naxal riots in the interior areas.
In these traditional schools of Hindi medium, English medium schools have also started at various places along with teaching in local dialects. These English medium schools are being operated under the Swami Atmanand English Medium School Scheme, in which free education is being provided to every student with facilities like private schools. During the corona period, Chhattisgarh has collected the maximum number of minor forests produce in the country. Most of the minor forest produce in the state is collected in these seven districts of Bastar division. With better strategy, now the collection of minor forest produce is being done in a more systematic manner. From their collection to purchase, the work is being done by the forest dwellers only. These forest produces are being procured by self-help groups by setting up purchase camps in Haat-bazaars. The enthusiasm of the villagers has increased due to the increase in the price of minor forest produce by the government and increasing the number of minor forest produce purchased on support price from 07 to 52.