Didi's time is up, BJP will come to power in Bengal in 2026: Amit Shah
Kolkata, June 1 (UNI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday launched a sharp offensive against West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee government, asserting that in a violence-free election, the people of the state would ensure the Trinamool Congress's defeat and the BJP will form the government in 2026.
Three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared in North Bengal's Alipurduars that West Bengal needs freedom from 'Five Sankats (problems)' - politics, violence, appeasement, riots, and corruption - Shah told BJP workers here ''In Bengal, during the elections and after Didi's (Chief Minister Banerjee) victory, hundreds of BJP workers were killed. Didi, how long will you protect them?"
"I'm telling you — your (government's) time is up. In 2026, the BJP will form the government," Shah said in his address to the party workers at the Netaji Indoor stadium here.
'I assure all our Mandal office-bearers that once the Trinamool government is ousted, we will dig out the culprits from beneath the ground if necessary and ensure they are punished for murdering our workers. Violence has no place in a democracy. Didi, if you have the courage, conduct an election without violence and see what happens. The people of Bengal will make sure you forfeit your deposit,' he said.
Countering Mamata Banerjee's allegation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is selling 'Operation Sindoor' for political traction, the Union Home Minister said, 'A few days ago in Pahalgam, terrorists sent by Pakistan brutally killed innocent civilians after asking their religion in front of their families. You tell me — should those terrorists sent by Pakistan not be punished? Was Modi ji not right to carry out Operation Sindoor?'
'This is what's causing pain in Didi's stomach. When people from Bengal were being killed there, it would have been right if Didi had expressed this pain. But she said nothing then. Now, when Modi ji comes here after Operation Sindoor, a cheap political comment is made opposing the operation. You were not just opposing Operation Sindoor — you were toying with the emotions of crores of mothers and sisters of this country,' Shah said.
Shah appealed to the "maternal power of Bengal" to make Banerjee understand the true value of indoor (vermilion) in the upcoming election for daring to question Operation Sindoor.
"Mothers and sisters, show her what it truly means to insult sindoor!' he added.
Shah, who arrived at Netaji Indoor Stadium at 2.16 pm along with Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, opened his speech by paying 0homage to Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, He also paid tributes to Syama Prasad Mookerjee - the founder of BJP's precursor Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
'This land has guided India for generations. Be it knowledge, science, spirituality, or the freedom struggle — Bengal has always led the way. For many years, Bengal was ruled by the communists. Then came Mamata Didi with her slogan of 'Ma-Mati-Manush' (Mother, Motherland, and People).
"Today, she has turned this great land of Bengal into a hub of infiltration, corruption, atrocities on women, crime, bomb blasts, and mistreatment of Hindus," he said.
Shah's fierce criticism of Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress, close on the heels of PM Modi denouncing the state government, is a clear indication that the BJP top leadership has begun sounding the bugle for the 2026 assembly elections in the state. UNI XC SSP
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