Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani, on 24 January, said the Narendra Modi-led government at Centre had given more funds to West Bengal than the previous Congress-led UPA government.
Irani was earlier scheduled to address two public rallies in Jhargram and Suri in place of BJP President Amit Shah, but could not reach the venue after her chopper failed to land due to lack of daylight, a state party leader said, hinting at a conspiracy by the Bengal government.
Shah, who was on a two-day visit to Bengal, had to cut short his trip to the state due to his health.
- The TMC said Amit Shah’s rally showed the BJP’s “nervousness” ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections
- Shah attacked the mega opposition rally held on 19 January at Kolkata’s Brigade Grounds by saying the mahagathbandhan has nine potential prime ministerial candidates
- Shah’s rallies were postponed after he was admitted to AIIMS Delhi due to swine flu
- Shah has claimed that his party will win at least 22 of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats in the general elections
- The BJP had won only two seats in West Bengal in 2014
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Modi Gave More Money to Bengal Than Congress: Smriti Irani in Joynagar
Union Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday, 24 January, said that the Narendra Modi-led government at Centre has given more funds to West Bengal than the previous Congress regime, reported PTI.
Speaking at a rally in South 24 Paraganas district, Irani said the UPA government gave Rs 1 lakh crore to the state, while the Modi government gave Rs 2.80 lakh crore under the 14th Finance Commission.
The senior BJP leader also hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for spurning the Centre's heathcare scheme Ayushman Bharat.
"Ask Mamata Banerjee why she is averse to Ayushman Bharat health scheme under which poor people of the state can avail of Rs 5 lakh per family for treatment purposes," she said.
Stating that 2.26 lakh people in the state have benefitted from the Jan Dhan Yojana apart from other Central schemes, Irani slammed Banerjee for being "most ungrateful" to the Centre.
She also took a dig at the Trinamool Congress chief for trying to form alliance parties, which she said did not cooperate with her for coming to power.
Speaking at the rally, State BJP President Dilip Ghosh slammed the state government and accused Banerjee of wilfully stopping the party's programmes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
BJP Alleges Conspiracy After Smriti Irani's Chopper Failed to Land in West Bengal's Suri
Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani, who was scheduled to address a public meeting at Suri in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Wednesday, 23 January, could not reach the venue after her chopper failed to land due to lack of daylight, a state BJP leader said, smelling a conspiracy by the state government, reported PTI.
Irani was scheduled to address two public rallies in Jhargram and Suri in place of BJP President Amit Shah after he had to cut short his trip to the state due to bad health.
According to the party sources, Irani left for Suri in her chopper after addressing the rally in Jhargram, but the pilot refused to land fearing there would not be adequate daylight when they would reach the venue.
The BJP claimed that Irani's arrival at Suri was delayed due to the conspiracy of Bengal government which asked the party leadership to arrange landing of Irani's chopper at the Kalaikunda Air Force base in West Midnapore district, nearly 40 km from the venue of her first public meeting in Jhargram.
"It was a conspiracy by the Bengal government... They denied landing permission near the meeting venue and instead asked us to land the chopper at Kalaikunda, which means Irani ji had to get down at West Midnapore and had to travel all the way to Jhargram which is at the end point of Bengal's Jangalmahal area," alleged BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha.
"Due to this conspiracy, she ran short of time to reach the venue in Suri. Irani and party's national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya could not reach and address the people here. But BJP workers are not upset. We have resolved to stand up against this conspiracy. Major national leaders of our party will come here," he said.
Permit Granted For Meet and Helipad: WB Police Clarifies
Alleging that “there has been a consistent attempt by some persons to create mischief by spreading misinformation”, West Bengal Police clarified that permission has been granted for both the meeting and the helipad of Amit Shah in Jhargram.
WB Govt Denied Landing Permit For Shah’s Chopper: BJP Alleges
Tushar K Ghosh, BJP State Secy and Jhargram District Observer, on Tuesday, alleged that the state administration has only given permission to hold a rally and not for Shah’s helicopter to land in Jhargram.
Contrary to earlier reports of the BJP president returning to Delhi over health concerns, Shah is expected to address a rally in Jhargram on Wednesday, 23 January.