Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday hit back strongly at his Pakistan counterpart Khawaja Asif’s recent remarks related to striking Kolkata, warning that Islamabad should remember that “55 years ago, they suffered the consequences when Pakistan was divided into two parts” and Bangladesh was created.“If they try to attack Bengal, they will receive a befitting reply. Only God can tell how many parts they will be broken into. The Pakistani defence minister should not have issued such a provocative statement,” Rajnath said during a roadshow in Barrackpore, West Bengal. The Pakistan defence minister had recently stated that “if India tries to stage any false flag operation… we will take it to Kolkata.”Stepping up BJP’s attack over alleged illegal immigration, Rajnath claimed CM Mamata Banerjee was unwilling to stop infiltration due to votebank politics. “As far as infiltrators are concerned, I can say with confidence that Mamataji does not want to stop them because she sees them as her vote bank,” he said. “When I was home minister, we had asked for land so that fencing could be done by BSF along the border. But the land was not given. Only now has some land perhaps been given,” he said.Rajnath also sought to strike an emotional chord with Bengali voters by invoking the legacy of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, promising that a BJP govt in the state would turn the litterateur’s ancestral home into a world-class tourist destination. Through ‘Vande Mataram’, Bankim Babu transformed the geography of India into an emotional bond, he said. He said so-called secular elements fragmented ‘Vande Mataram’ and it continued to be sung in an incomplete manner. Leaders of TMC and the Communist party consistently ignored Bankim Babu’s legacy, but PM Modi has, for the first time, ensured that Bankim Babu’s legacy and ‘Vande Mataram’ receive due respect in the country.“Mamataji, I want to give you a suggestion. Do politics, but not the politics of appeasement. Politics should be based on justice and humanity, on justice and equality,” Rajnath said, spelling out TMC as ‘Total Misrule and Corruption’.Rajnath said while the entire country is progressing in terms of industry and investment, West Bengal has lagged behind. He mentioned that the people of West Bengal have made up their minds that in the elections, TMC will go and BJP will come. “Bahut hua joda ghas-phool, Bengal Maange kamal ka phool.”He criticised the CM’s statement that violence in Bengal is due to “Ram, Shyam, and Vam”, asserting that while it may be attributed to the Left, it cannot be linked to “Ram” and “Shyam”. The state govt has weakened the state’s economic condition to such an extent that Bengal’s share in the national economy, which was once around 10%, has now declined to just 6%.
