KOLKATA, July 6: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the BJP government in West Bengal was implementing its poll promises, including steps towards a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), action against infiltration and tougher anti-crime measures, while asserting that the vision of a ‘Sonar Bangla’ was taking shape under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s leadership.
Addressing a programme marking the 125th birth anniversary of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Shah sought to project the BJP government’s policy initiatives in the state as an extension of the late leader’s ideological legacy, linking issues such as citizenship, national integration, law and order, and cultural nationalism to Mookerjee’s vision.
The home minister, who laid the foundation stone for a 125-foot-tall statue of Mookerjee, also announced that a committee had been constituted for implementing the UCC in West Bengal.
He said the process of identifying and deporting infiltrators had begun, and reiterated the BJP’s commitment to granting citizenship to eligible refugees under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).“We are fulfilling the promises we made in our ‘Sankalp Patra’ during the Bengal elections,” Shah said.
Praising the BJP government in the state, he said, “I am fully confident that under the leadership of CM Suvendu Adhikari, the commitment of building a ‘Sonar Bangla’ will be fulfilled.” In a speech laden with references to Mookerjee’s political legacy, Shah described the occasion as an emotional one and claimed the former Union minister’s contributions had been deliberately overlooked for decades.
“For 73 years, there has been an attempt to make us forget Syama Prasad Mookerjee and his contributions,” he said. A substantial portion of Shah’s speech was devoted to recounting Mookerjee’s resignation from independent India’s first Cabinet over the Nehru-Liaquat Pact, an episode that remains central to the BJP’s narrative around the Jana Sangh founder.
MAMATA BANERJEE TAKES OUT PROTEST RALLY OVER RAPE-MURDER OF 11-YR OLD
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took out a rally from her Kalighat residence here on Monday to protest the alleged rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district.
Holding a lit candle in her hand, Banerjee led the rally, in which MPs Dola Sen, Pratima Mondal and Derek O’Brien joined.With several supporters of the TMC faction led by her taking part in the rally, Banerjee walked through Harish Chatterjee Street, on which her residence is located.
The participants in the rally held placards demanding justice for the victim girl and her family. West Bengal Police on Monday arrested the key accused in the alleged rape-murder of a girl in Baruipur, taking the total number of arrests in the case to three, a senior officer said.The accused, identified as Anand Sardar, was picked up by Baruipur district police from the town’s market area in South 24 Parganas in the afternoon following a search operation, he said.Meanwhile,
The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Monday took suo motu cognisance of reports on the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl at Baruipur in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district and sought an action taken report from the state police within seven days.
Expressing “grave concern” over the incident, the commission asked the director general of police, West Bengal, to submit a detailed Action Taken Report (ATR) covering the progress of the investigation.The victim’s body was found stuffed in a sack in Surjyapur Haat area, triggering a protest by locals who blocked the Baruipur-Joynagar Road, burnt tyres and damaged a few police vehicles, demanding the arrest of the accused persons.Hours after the body was recovered, a man was beaten to death by angry locals on suspicion of involvement in the girl’s death Meanwhile, authorities imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in Baruipur, Narendrapur and Sonarpur areas of South 24 Parganas to maintain law and order following tension over the crime. (PTI)
