Bengal saved from turning into ‘Western Bangladesh’: Agnimitra Paul

Newly-inducted West Bengal Minister Agnimitra Paul on Saturday, May 9, said that the formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state marked the fulfilment of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s vision. The two-time BJP legislator further claimed that the state had been “saved” from turning into “Western Bangladesh”.

Paul’s comments came after Suvendu Adhikari took oath as the Chief Minister of the first BJP-led government in West Bengal. Apart from him, other members of the state Council of Ministers also took oath in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and others.

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Apart from Adhikari, those sworn in as ministers included Agnimitra Paul, Dilip Ghosh, Nisith Pramanik, Ashok Kirtania and Khudiram Tudu.

While speaking to IANS after taking the oath, Paul got emotional as she recalled what she described as years of struggle as well as political violence faced by BJP workers in the state.

“I still can’t believe the struggle that we have done, the 23 police cases, the insults, the harassment, not letting us work, beating our workers, raping them, burning them… I still can’t believe it; do we really have a government? Sometimes I want to pinch myself and see if this is really happening,” she said.

The BJP leader said that she believed the political change in West Bengal reflected the ideals of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological predecessor of the BJP.

“Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s dreams have been fulfilled. We have been able to save the Bengal that was going to turn into Western Bangladesh. We are able to save it. This is an unreal feeling,” Paul said.

While highlighting Mookerjee’s role in Bengal’s political history, Paul said that he was the founder of our party.

“Bengalis got Bengal due to him, or else we would have been in Bangladesh now. And the way Hindus were being burnt in Bangladesh, women were being killed; it would have happened to us also. Today, it didn’t happen because of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s Bengal,” she added.

Attacking Mamata Banerjee and the TMC, Paul said that she was trying to turn Bengal into Bangladesh through her appeasement politics for Jamaat and the Muslim community.

“It is a blessing that it did not happen, and Bengal did not turn into Bangladesh, or else everything, from our language to culture, would have been Islamised. Today, Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s soul would be very happy. Over 321 BJP workers who were brutally beaten, raped and killed today, even their souls must have found peace,” she added.