Bankura (West Bengal): Union Home Minister Amit Shah had lunch Thursday at the house of a tribal BJP worker in Chaturdihi village in Bankura district. It was a vegetarian platter of Bengali delicacies, served on a plate with a banana leaf on it. Sitting on the floor of Bibhishan Hansda’s house, Amit Shah had rice, roti, dal, ‘potol bhaja’ (pointed gourd fry), ‘shukto’ (mixed veg stew which is slightly bitter), ‘alu-posto’ (potato cooked in poppy seed paste), and ‘papad’. Although sweets such as ‘rosogolla’, ‘sandesh’ and ‘mishti doi’ were there in the menu, the BJP leader declined to have those desserts.
Shah was accompanied by BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvergiya, BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy and West Bengal party chief Dilip Ghosh.
After lunch, Shah sat on a charpoy and had a brief interaction with the family members and local people. He had been accorded a warm welcome by them earlier. They blew conch shells and beat the drums as he negotiated a narrow muddy road in the village to reach Hansda’s house.
Hansda said that it was an honour for him to host Shah. He said this would be one of the most memorable days in his life.
Shah is on a two-day tour to West Bengal. He arrived here Thursday morning to take stock of the party’s organisation in the district. The Assembly elections are likely to be held in West Bengal in April-May next year.
Shah is scheduled to hold organisational meetings in the district. He will also meet representatives of various communities and social groups.
Bankura district is dominated by tribal and backward communities. It is one of the several districts where the BJP had made deep inroads in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It bagged both the parliamentary seats in the district.
Meanwhile in a separate development, the West Bengal unit of the Congress mocked the BJP for its Dalit outreach programme. WBPCC president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the saffron party which has ‘done precious little’ for the uplift of tribals is ‘now cosying’ up to them.
Chowdhury was alluding to Shah’s visit to a tribal family in Bankura district.
“The BJP, which has done precious little for the uplift of tribals, is now cosying up to them. In fact this brand of divisive politics of BJP will not work in West Bengal,” Chowdhury told reporters at a press conference in Kolkata.
“None can forget the atrocities on Dalits, minorities and women in BJP-ruled states. No action was taken by the administration against the perpetrators. Shah is eager to prove that his love for backward communities such as ‘Matuas’ is greater than our Didi (Mamata Banerjee).